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Wage losses due to overqualification: The role of formal degrees and occupational skills

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  • Kracke, Nancy

    (IAB)

  • Reichelt, Malte

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany ; New York University Abu Dhabi)

  • Vicari, Basha

    (Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany)

Abstract

"Wage penalties in overqualified employment are well documented, but little is known regarding the underlying mechanisms. We test two explanations, namely, formal overqualification and a mismatch of occupational skills. By using the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) survey that is linked to German administrative data, we can objectively measure both types of mismatches. By using fixed-effects models, we confirm that overqualification is associated with a wage loss of approximately 5 percent, which indicates penalties from a lower requirement level. We find that some of this wage loss can be explained by a mismatch of skills between the current and training occupation. Further analyses show that mismatches of occupational skills explain the wage loss of the formal overqualification of employees with vocational training. For academics, both types of mismatch are unrelated. We conclude that because of occupational boundaries and more specific occupational skills, the people who are overqualified with vocational training more often work in jobs with lower and different skill requirements." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Kracke, Nancy & Reichelt, Malte & Vicari, Basha, 2017. "Wage losses due to overqualification: The role of formal degrees and occupational skills," IAB-Discussion Paper 201710, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
  • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201710
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    Cited by:

    1. Nancy Kracke & Margarida Rodrigues, 2020. "A Task-Based Indicator for Labour Market Mismatch," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 399-421, June.
    2. Nancy Kracke & Christina Klug, 2021. "Social Capital and Its Effect on Labour Market (Mis)match: Migrants’ Overqualification in Germany," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 1573-1598, December.
    3. Kruppe, Thomas & Trepesch, Merlind, 2017. "Weiterbildungsbeteiligung in Deutschland : Auswertungen mit den Daten der Erwachsenenbefragung des Nationalen Bildungspanels "Bildung im Erwachsenenalter und lebenslanges Lernen"," IAB-Discussion Paper 201716, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Bachmann, Ronald & Boockmann, Bernhard & Cim, Merve & Felder, Rahel & Frings, Hanna & Janisch, Laura M. & Schaffner, Sandra & Späth, Jochen & Tamm, Marcus, 2018. "Vergleich von Datenquellen für eine Analyse von Übergängen am Arbeitsmarkt: Studie im Auftrag der Mindestlohnkommission," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 180217.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bundesrepublik Deutschland ; Ausbildungsabschluss ; Ausbildungsabsolventen ; berufliche Qualifikation ; Bildungsertrag ; Einkommenseffekte ; Hochschulabsolventen ; mismatch ; Nationales Bildungspanel ; Studienabschluss ; Überqualifikation ; unterwertige Beschäftigung ; 1992-2010;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education

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