The Career Prospects of Overeducated Americans

Brian Clark (), Clément Joubert () and Arnaud Maurel
Additional contact information
Brian Clark: Duke University

No 8313, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In this paper we analyze career dynamics for the large share of U.S. workers who have more schooling than their peers in the same occupation. We use data from the NLSY79 combined with the CPS to analyze transitions into and out of overeducated employment, together with the corresponding effects on wages. Overeducation is a fairly persistent phenomenon at the aggregate and individual levels, with 66% of workers remaining overeducated after one year. Overeducation is not only more common, but also more persistent among blacks and low-AFQT individuals. Further, the hazard rate out of overeducation drops by about 60% during the first 5 years spent overeducated. However, the estimation of a mixed proportional hazard model suggests that this is attributable to selection on unobservables rather than true duration dependence. Finally, overeducation is associated with lower current as well as future wages, which points to the existence of scarring effects.

Keywords: overeducation; mismatch (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2014-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-lab and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

Published - published in: IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 2017, 6:3

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Related works:
Journal Article: The career prospects of overeducated Americans (2017)
Working Paper: The Career Prospects of Overeducated Americans (2014)
Working Paper: Career Prospects of Overeducated Americans (2014)
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