"Overeducation is one of the most important mechanisms for labor market adjustment when there is an excess supply of high-skilled workers. However, there is much debate about the consequences of this phenomena and the short and long term effects for both the overeducated worker and the economy as a whole. This book contributes to our understanding of recent developments in the research on overeducation by providing a detailed overview of the pertinent theoretical and policy issues."

Studies examining the wage effect of overeducation have generated very consistent results. Their findings suggest that, for workers with similar educational attainment, workers who are overeducated for the job suffer from significant wage penalties. However, most studies use cross-sectional data, implicitly assuming that workers are randomly assigned to being overeducated. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the period 1979-2005, this study conducts a panel analysis to account for time-constant individual characteristics. It uses a numerical approach to provide the wage effects in the presence of non-classical measurement error in the educational mismatch variables. The results provide evidence that overeducated status does not cause lower earnings. Instead, the significant wage differential found in previous studies is simply a result of ignoring the non-random assignment of workers to jobs.

Studies examining the wage effect of overeducation have generated very consistent results. Their findings suggest that, for workers with similar educational attainment, workers who are overeducated for the job suffer from significant wage penalties. However, most studies use cross-sectional data, implicitly assuming that workers are randomly assigned to being overeducated. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the period 1979--2005, this study conducts a panel analysis to account for time-constant individual characteristics. It uses a numerical approach to provide the wage effects in the presence of non-classical measurement error in the educational mismatch variables. The results provide evidence that overeducated status does not cause lower earnings. Instead, the significant wage differential found in previous studies is simply a result of ignoring the nonrandom assignment of workers to jobs.

Analyzes the 1970s downturn in the labor market for college-educated manpower, considers consequences for educational institutions, and explores policies for alleviating the situation. Bibliogs

Anecdotes abound in the Danish public debate about well-educated immigrants that are in jobs they are formally overqualified for. Using a 1995-2002 panel data set based on Danish registers, this study attempts to find out how large a problem immigrant overeducation is in the context of the Danish labor market. More specifically, three questions are posed: First, to what extent are immigrants overeducated and are they more likely to be so than native Danes? Second, why are some immigrants more likely to become overeducated than others? And finally, what are the consequences of overeducation for individual wages? The authors find that among wage earners with at least a vocational education or higher, 25 percent of male non-Western immigrants are overeducated. The same applies for 15 percent of native Danes. Particularly immigrants with a foreign-acquired education risk becoming overeducated - here the share is 30 percent among those with a vocational education or higher. The authors find that Danish labor market experience is extremely important in reducing the likelihood of becoming overeducated. Years spent in the country without accumulating labor market experience do not improve an individual's chances of an appropriate job-to-education match. In terms of earnings consequences, the study concludes that years of overeducation do increase wages for immigrants, but much less so than years of adequate education. This is also true for native Danes, but the relative penalty for overeducation is much larger for immigrants than for Danes.

USA. Monograph on labour market problems resulting from discrepancies betwen higher education educational level and actual job requirements, causing a surplus in university graduate labour supply - presents definitions of overeducation as well as human capital theoretical explanations, analyses research methods and research results for interpreting trends between 1960 and 1976 (incl. Projections to 1985), and considers implications for job satisfaction, performance and workers' health, labour policy, etc. Bibliography pp. 129 to 143 and graphs.