A Mismatch Made in Heaven: A Hedonic Analysis of Overeducation and Undereducation

Daniel McMillen (), Paul Seaman and Larry D. Singell

Southern Economic Journal, 2007, vol. 73, issue 4, 901-930

Abstract: In this paper, a hedonic pairing process is modeled in which some workers may be overeducated or undereducated as an equilibrium outcome of a dynamic labor market. Undereducated workers are those whose abilities and training permit them to move into a job with higher qualifications, whereas overeducated workers are highly qualified workers who select into lower‐skill, entry‐level jobs that provide the training (or signal) necessary for promotion. The empirical model shows that these pairing types cannot be directly identified in a cross section since all workers are exactly educated during a portion of their career. However, pairing types may be imputed by comparing predicted and observed qualifications of the worker and predicted and observed requirements of the firm. Using a rich cross section and a panel of British working‐age males to identify the pairing types, we confirm the predicted career development patterns with regard to on‐the‐job training, promotion, and wages.

Date: 2007
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2325-8012.2007.tb00810.x

Related works:
Working Paper: A Mismatch Made in Heaven: A Hedonic Analysis of Overeducation and Undereducation (2003)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wly:soecon:v:73:y:2007:i:4:p:901-930

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Southern Economic Journal from John Wiley & Sons
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().