Overeducation Wage Penalty among Ph.D. Holders: An Unconditional Quantile Regression Analysis on Italian Data

Arbeitspapier

The wage effect of job-education vertical mismatch (i.e. overeducation) has only recently been investigated in the case of Ph.D. holders. The existing contributions rely on OLS estimates that allow measuring the average effect of being mismatched at the mean of the conditional wages distribution. This paper, instead, observes the heterogeneity of the overeducation penalty along the wage distribution and according to Ph.D. holders' study field and sector of employment (academic/non-academic). We implement a Recentered Influence Function (RIF) to estimate an hourly wage equation and compare PhD holders who are over-educated with those who are not. The results reveal that overeducation hits the wages of those Ph.D. holders who are employed in the academic sector and in non-R&D jobs outside of the academic sector. Instead, no penalty exists among those who carry out R&D outside the Academia. The size of the penalty is higher among those who are in the mid-top of the wage distribution and hold a Social Science and Humanities specialization.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 11325

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Single Equation Models: Single Variables: Instrumental Variables (IV) Estimation ; Higher Education; Research Institutions ; Returns to Education ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
• Subject: job-education mismatch ; overeducation ; wages ; Ph.D. holders ; unconditional quantile regression ; Italy

Contributors, Location and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Gaeta, Giuseppe Lucio ; Lubrano Lavadera, Giuseppe ; Pastore, Francesco
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2018

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/177129
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET