Over-qualification and dimensions of job satisfaction

Over-qualification may arise from voluntary decisions of individuals to acquire more qualifications than those required at the job place. In these cases, mismatch may have a role allowing workers to compensate the lack of some other skills, or to gain access to the labour market. Consequently, workers may feel no less satisfied, at least in some domains, than adequately matched workers. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between over-qualification and different domains of job satisfaction in Spain, a country characterised by a strongly segmented labour market with high unemployment level, and a large number of mismatched. Using micro data for a representative sample of Spanish workers, we employ an IV estimation procedure to control for potential endogeneity arising from reverse causation or unobserved heterogeneity. Results obtained provide apparent evidence on that mismatched workers do not necessarily feel less satisfied than adequately matched workers in all domains of job satisfaction.