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Overeducation, undereducation, and the theory of career mobility: a comment and a note on underemployment

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  • Stephen Rubb

Abstract

Overeducated workers are commonly defined as having more schooling than required and more schooling than others in their occupations. Accordingly, the concept of overeducation compares the educational levels of workers within occupational categories. In subtle contrast, underemployed workers are employed in occupations requiring less education than the individuals have, comparing the occupational levels of workers with similar educational attainment. This subtle difference potentially leads to interpretation flaws. For example, Buchel and Mertens (2004) claim 'overeducated workers in Germany have markedly lower relative wage growth rates than adequately educated workers.' Since Buchel and Mertens control for educational attainment and not occupational levels, this statement and others are shown to be potentially flawed and subject to misinterpretation. Such statements need to clearly indicate that similarly educated individuals are being compared across occupational levels. This is because the common definition of overeducation suggests the opposite - that individuals with similar occupation levels are being compared across levels of schooling.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephen Rubb, 2005. "Overeducation, undereducation, and the theory of career mobility: a comment and a note on underemployment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(2), pages 115-118.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:12:y:2005:i:2:p:115-118
    DOI: 10.1080/1350485052000337770
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hartog, Joop, 2000. "Over-education and earnings: where are we, where should we go?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 131-147, April.
    2. Sicherman, Nachum & Galor, Oded, 1990. "A Theory of Career Mobility," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(1), pages 169-192, February.
    3. Rubb, S., 2003. "Overeducation in the labor market: a comment and re-analysis of a meta-analysis," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 621-629, December.
    4. Sicherman, Nachum, 1991. ""Overeducation" in the Labor Market," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(2), pages 101-122, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Joaquin Turmo-Garuz & M.-Teresa Bartual-Figueras & Francisco-Javier Sierra-Martinez, 2019. "Factors Associated with Overeducation Among Recent Graduates During Labour Market Integration: The Case of Catalonia (Spain)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 1273-1301, August.
    2. Zakariya, Zainizam, 2014. "Wage Effect of Over-Education and Mismatch in Malaysia: A Random Effect Approach," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 48(2), pages 3-17.
    3. Verhaest, Dieter & Schatteman, Tom, 2010. "Overeducation in the early career: an analysis using sequence techniques," Working Papers 2010/09, Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, Faculteit Economie en Management.
    4. Stephen Rubb, 2013. "Overeducation, undereducation and asymmetric information in occupational mobility," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 741-751, February.
    5. Kucel Aleksander & Vilalta-Bufí Montserrat, 2019. "University Program Characteristics and Education-Job Mismatch," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(4), pages 1-12, October.

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