Career Mobility, Job Match, and Overeducation

Many workers are mismatched with their jobs. While many factors contribute to mismatch, overeducation is attracting increased attention. Several reasons have been put forth to explain why overeducation exists in the labor market. Sicherman [1991] hypothesizes that overeducation may be part of a career mobility process. Workers temporarily accept jobs for which they are overqualified in exchange for training. This paper reports on alternative tests examining the career mobility hypothesis. Overeducated workers appear more likely to move to better jobs over time. However, contrary to the career mobility hypothesis, they are less likely than adequately educated workers to feel that the skills they are acquiring will help them on future jobs.

Overeducation and College Major: Expanding the Definition of Mismatch between Schooling and Jobs

In this paper we expand the concept of educational mismatch to incorporate both the quantity and type of schooling into a measure of the distance between schooling and work. The wage effects increase as the distance between schooling and work increases, suggesting heterogeneity of both schooling and workers among the overeducated. The transferability of skills between college major and occupation, as well as the reason for accepting the position, is also examined

Regulatory legislation, unions, and labor market earnings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that the effects of industry regulation on worker earnings are reconsidered using a wider array of industries and differentiating between industry-opposed and industry-supported legislation. Design/methodology/approach – Primary data from the Current Population Surveys are used in this paper with data on regulatory legislation from Cahan and Kaempfer. A difference-in-difference approach is used to compare wage changes pre- and post-legislation, in industries with opposed or supported legislation, with those unaffected by legislation. The relative contribution of union and non-union wage changes to the overall wage changes are also examined. Findings – The paper finds that regulatory legislation opposed by the industry did not affect earnings growth relative to industries not subject to regulatory legislation. Legislation supported by the industry led to slower relative earnings growth. Union wage differentials increased in industries with legislation regardless of industry opposition or support. Relative earnings declined among non-union workers in industries that received legislation. The effects vary across industries with the results suggesting that some legislation led to increased product competition, while some legislation affected labor market competition. Research limitations/implications – The paper shows that data on regulatory legislation are limited by the lack of detailed information. For example, it is only known whether legislation was passed that was opposed or supported by the industry. Future research should replicate this analysis with more complete data. Practical implications – Also the paper sees that regulatory legislation does not need to completely regulate or deregulate an industry to affect workers. As such, policy makers should consider the effects of proposed legislation on workers in the affected industries. Originality/value – This paper directly tests whether the wage effects from regulation differ depending on industry opposition or support for the legislation. As such, this paper is innovative because it differentiates between different types of legislation in examining the effect of legislation on wages and the union differentials.Earnings, Legislation, Regulation

Childhood sexual abuse and the gender wage gap

This paper examines the effect of childhood sexual abuse on adult wages for men and women, and determines whether the gender wage gap is a function of differences in the prevalence and long-term effects of childhood abuse.

Childhood sexual victimization, educational attainment, and the returns to schooling

Numerous studies show that survivors of childhood sexual abuse suffer as adults from depression, post‐traumatic stress disorder, alcohol and drug abuse, and other mental illnesses. As such, the effect of experiencing traumatic events during childhood including sexual abuse can have lasting implications. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether a history of childhood sexual abuse is related to women's educational attainment and returns to schooling, and to examine whether such effects are a function of the severity of abuse.women's education, child sexual abuse,

Education, College Major, and Job Match: Gender Differences in Reasons for Mismatch

Many studies have examined the match between years of schooling and the schooling required for the job. The quantity of schooling is only one way to consider the match between schooling and jobs. This paper considers an alternative match between education and jobs based on the relationship between college majors and work activities. Twenty percent of workers report their work is not related to their degree field. Work-reported reasons for accepting such a position outside the field of study differ for men and women. The wage effects of mismatch vary considerably across the different reasons for accepting the position.