Based on a representative sample of over 3,600 Italian employees, the paper assesses the existence and the characteristics of the educational mismatch in Italy. Results show that educational mismatch is not a negligible fact and the observed patterns reflect those already reported for other countries of continental Europe. Nonetheless, the Italian case is characterised by the prevalence of undereducation over overeducation and by consistently high levels of matching. The exam of the return to educational mismatch confirms the relative penalisation of overeducation and the absolute penalisation of undereducation. Moreover, the inclusion of additional explanatory variables prove that the focus on the sole human capital masks the impact of other important factors such as gender, professional occupation, or employer industry. The patterns observed for the full sample significantly change with the age of employees.
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CAINARCA, GIAN CARLO;
2008-01-01
Abstract
Based on a representative sample of over 3,600 Italian employees, the paper assesses the existence and the characteristics of the educational mismatch in Italy. Results show that educational mismatch is not a negligible fact and the observed patterns reflect those already reported for other countries of continental Europe. Nonetheless, the Italian case is characterised by the prevalence of undereducation over overeducation and by consistently high levels of matching. The exam of the return to educational mismatch confirms the relative penalisation of overeducation and the absolute penalisation of undereducation. Moreover, the inclusion of additional explanatory variables prove that the focus on the sole human capital masks the impact of other important factors such as gender, professional occupation, or employer industry. The patterns observed for the full sample significantly change with the age of employees.
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