The Impact of Overeducation on Wages of Recent Economic Sciences Graduates

DE SANTIS, MARIANA OLGA

Social Indicators Research

Springer Nature

Año: 2022

0303-8300

ccording to human capital theory, wages are determined by workers´ productivity which, in its crudest form, implies that return to education does not depend on how workers´ skills are used. However, after controlling for other differences, the empirical evidence shows that workers with identical education are paid differently. The literature evidences that young people are more likely to experience a mismatch between their formal education and the one required for their jobs. While there is no consensus on the reasons for the mismatch phenomenon, one consequence is clear, in terms of wages overeducation means a penalty. Our evidence shows that overeducated graduates of the Facultad de Ciencias Económicas of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba suffer a wage penalty compared to those working in a job that requires a university degree. The results are robust to different specifications and the use of alternative estimators. Even though is not statistically significant, the penalty of a s