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Job search as a determinant of graduate over-education: evidence from Australia

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  • David Carroll
  • Massimiliano Tani

Abstract

We analyse the relationship between job search and over-education for recent Australian bachelor degree graduates using data from the 2011 Beyond Graduation Survey. Results from panel estimation suggest that jobs found through university careers offices are associated with lower probability of over-education relative to jobs found through advertisements and personal contacts. This result arises regardless of gender and age. In contrast, direct employer contact is only beneficial to older males. The role of university careers offices and fairs in matching the skills of graduates with the needs of employers appears more effective than other forms of job search.

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  • David Carroll & Massimiliano Tani, 2015. "Job search as a determinant of graduate over-education: evidence from Australia," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 631-644, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:23:y:2015:i:5:p:631-644
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2014.908164
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    1. McGuinness Seamus & Whelan Adele & Bergin Adele, 2016. "Is There a Role for Higher Education Institutions in Improving the Quality of First Employment?," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 1-15, October.
    2. Pérez Navarro, Marco Aurelio, 2021. "University graduates’ job-education mismatches in the Spanish labour market," MPRA Paper 109881, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Matloob Piracha & Massimiliano Tani & Zhiming Cheng & Ben Zhe Wang, 2023. "Social assimilation and immigrants’ labour market outcomes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 37-67, January.
    4. David Boto-García & Marta Escalonilla, 2022. "University education, mismatched jobs: are there gender differences in the drivers of overeducation?," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(3), pages 861-902, October.
    5. Maite Bl'azquez Cuesta & Marco A. P'erez Navarro & Roc'io S'anchez-Mangas, 2024. "Overeducation under different macroeconomic conditions: The case of Spanish university graduates," Papers 2407.04437, arXiv.org.
    6. Liu, Yunbo & Yin, Lu & Guo, Jianru, 2021. "The quality of higher education and overeducation: Where should higher education funding go?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 41(C).
    7. Ian W. Li & Mark Harris & Peter J. Sloane, 2018. "Vertical, Horizontal and Residual Skills Mismatch in the Australian Graduate Labour Market," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 94(306), pages 301-315, September.
    8. Denise Jackson, 2020. "Accounting and Finance Graduate Employment Outcomes: Underemployment, Self‐employment and Managing Diversity," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 30(3), pages 193-205, September.
    9. Eleni Kalfa & Matloob Piracha, 2018. "Social networks and the labour market mismatch," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 877-914, July.
    10. Obbey Ahmed Elamin, 2018. "Impact of Informal Job-search on Wages for University Graduates in Egypt and Jordan," Working Papers 1272, Economic Research Forum, revised 19 Dec 2018.
    11. Caroleo, Floro Ernesto & Pastore, Francesco, 2015. "Overeducation: A Disease of the School-to-Work Transition System," IZA Discussion Papers 9049, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • A22 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Undergraduate
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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