H. Battu and P.J. Sloane
For the total population there is evidence of substantial over‐education in the sense that workers possess higher qualifications than are strictly required for the job. Using the…
Abstract
For the total population there is evidence of substantial over‐education in the sense that workers possess higher qualifications than are strictly required for the job. Using the fourth wave of the British National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, this paper attempts to ascertain whether ethnic minorities suffer from higher over‐education than whites due to possible discrimination. The results suggest a differential effect across various ethnic groups and a tendency for foreign qualifications to be rewarded less.
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H. Battu, C.R. Belfield and P.J. Sloane
An individual's human capital has a strong influence in earnings. Yet, individual worker‐level estimations of earnings rarely include the characteristics of co‐workers or detailed…
Abstract
An individual's human capital has a strong influence in earnings. Yet, individual worker‐level estimations of earnings rarely include the characteristics of co‐workers or detailed firm‐level controls. In particular, co‐workers skills are ignored which may be particularly significant where team work is important. This paper utilises a unique matched work‐place data set to estimate the effect on the earnings of co‐workers' education and training in the Hotel and Catering sector, which contains a high proportion of low paying establishments and in the Retail sector which contains a large absolute number of low paying establishments. The data are derived from the 1998 British Workplace Employment Relations Survey. This is a national sample based on interviews with managers in 2,191 establishments with at least ten workers. In addition, a survey of up to 25 randomly selected employees in each establishment was undertaken which included questions on education, training, pay and job satisfaction, as well as a range of other personal and workplace characteristics. We have, therefore, a matched workplace employee sample which is essential for this type of analysis. The results suggest that there are strong co‐worker effects in the earnings of individuals when controlling the individual's own level of education. While there are also high returns to training for individual workers, there are no similar spillover effects from the training of co‐workers in these sectors. Nevertheless, this suggests that there could well be a pay‐off to the professionalisation of service sector jobs.
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Müge Adalet McGowan and Dan Andrews
This paper explores the link between skill and qualification mismatch and labor productivity using cross-country industry data for 19 OECD countries. Utilizing mismatch indicators…
Abstract
This paper explores the link between skill and qualification mismatch and labor productivity using cross-country industry data for 19 OECD countries. Utilizing mismatch indicators aggregated from micro-data sourced from the recent OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the main results suggest that higher skill and qualification mismatch is associated with lower labor productivity, with over-skilling and under-qualification accounting for most of these impacts. A novel result is that higher skill mismatch is associated with lower labor productivity through a less efficient allocation of resources, presumably because when the share of over-skilled workers is higher, more productive firms find it more difficult to attract skilled labor and gain market shares at the expense of less productive firms. At the same time, a higher share of under-qualified workers is associated with both lower allocative efficiency and within-firm productivity – that is, a lower ratio of high productivity to low productivity firms. While differences in managerial quality can potentially account for the relationship between mismatch and within-firm productivity, the paper offers some preliminary insights into the policy factors that might explain the link between skill mismatch and resource allocation.
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Maria Ferreira, Annemarie Künn-Nelen and Andries De Grip
This paper provides more insight into the assumption of human capital theory that the productivity of job-related training is driven by the improvement of workers’ skills. We…
Abstract
This paper provides more insight into the assumption of human capital theory that the productivity of job-related training is driven by the improvement of workers’ skills. We analyze the extent to which training and informal learning on the job are related to employee skill development and consider the heterogeneity of this relationship with respect to workers’ skill mismatch at job entry. Using data from the 2014 European Skills and Jobs Survey, we find – as assumed by human capital theory – that employees who participated in training or informal learning show greater improvement of their skills than those who did not. The contribution of informal learning to employee skill development appears to be larger than that of training participation. Nevertheless, both forms of learning are shown to be complementary. This complementarity between training and informal learning is related to a significant additional improvement of workers’ skills. The skill development of workers who were initially underskilled for their job seems to benefit the most from both training and informal learning, whereas the skill development of those who were initially overskilled benefits the least. Work-related learning investments in the latter group seem to be more functional in offsetting skill depreciation than in fostering skill accumulation.
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This theoretical study aims to clarify the (a priori) ambiguous effect of homeownership on unemployment. In general, in fact, homeownership discourages job mobility, but…
Abstract
Purpose
This theoretical study aims to clarify the (a priori) ambiguous effect of homeownership on unemployment. In general, in fact, homeownership discourages job mobility, but homeowners are less likely to be unemployed than tenants, since homeownership would seem to be positively related to human capital.
Design/methodology/approach
This study develops a modified version of the benchmark theoretic model of the labour market – the well-known “equilibrium unemployment theory” – where homeownership affects both the “Beveridge Curve” (BC, by means of job immobility) and the “Job Creation Condition” (JCC, by means of human capital).
Findings
The general result is that an increase in homeownership increases unemployment. Therefore, policymakers could encourage job mobility, before facilitating homeownership. This policy implication, however, may not apply in the case of high inflation and/or low nominal interest rate, and when the job destruction rate depends on the homeownership rate.
Research limitations/implications
The model studies the steady-state equilibrium of the labour market, so the policy implications only relate to the long-run. The model, therefore, does not consider the short-run effects of homeownership on unemployment (which may differ from the long-term results).
Practical implications
The model suggests a public policy characterised by large investment in rail lines and subsidised commuter fares. By promoting a more efficient allocation of workers across regions (and, thus, job mobility), indeed, this policy can be a good way to increase employment, without harming homeownership.
Social implications
The practical implication of this model is also a social implication, since it relates to homeownership and housing tenure.
Originality/value
To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first model that introduces the key role of homeownership in the so-called “Equilibrium unemployment theory”. Precisely, the model uses a modified version of both the BC (which includes the negative effect of homeownership on the overall job search intensity of unemployed workers) and the JCC (which includes the positive effect of homeownership on both the business start-up and the human capital of workers). By comparing these two opposite effects, this theoretical work makes clearer the net effect of homeownership on unemployment.
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Wim Groot and H.M. van den Brink
Over the past years a number of studies have appeared on the incidence and returns to overeducation in the labor market. In these studies various definitions of educational…
Abstract
Over the past years a number of studies have appeared on the incidence and returns to overeducation in the labor market. In these studies various definitions of educational mismatches have been used. In this paper we analyze the validity and reliability of three of these definitions. It is found that the definitions differ widely in the workers who are identified as over‐ or undereducated. Further, the methods yield different estimates of the returns to over‐ and undereducation.
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Tracy Scurry and John Blenkinsopp
The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic review of the literature that explores under‐employment among recent graduates. Literature from a range of disciplines is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to offer a systematic review of the literature that explores under‐employment among recent graduates. Literature from a range of disciplines is reviewed in an attempt to further a theoretical understanding. In doing this, the secondary aim is to identify avenues for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts a systematic literature review methodology to answer the question “What is graduate underemployment?”
Findings
The review highlights significant issues around the conceptualisation and measurement of graduate under‐employment. It argues that individual volition and meaning making are important issues that to date remain under‐researched in relation to graduate under‐employment. The paper argues that the most appropriate basis for developing a theoretical understanding of graduate under‐employment is to draw upon relevant theoretical frameworks from career studies – specifically those on the objective‐subjective duality of career, career indecision, and career success. This approach provides a greater focus on the dynamics of the individual's experiences.
Practical implications
This review has implications for a range of stakeholders including students, graduates, teachers and careers advisers, parents, universities, employers, HR professionals and policy makers.
Originality/value
In the context of policy debates surrounding the purpose and value of higher education, this review brings together the highly fragmented perspectives on a phenomenon that encapsulates many of the issues being debated.
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John Blenkinsopp and Tracy Scurry
The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of growing numbers of graduates in non‐graduate occupations (GRINGOs), and to explore the HR issues and complexities that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the phenomenon of growing numbers of graduates in non‐graduate occupations (GRINGOs), and to explore the HR issues and complexities that arise as a consequence. The article also suggests avenues for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study methodology was used to gather data from four companies employing significant numbers of graduates in non‐graduate jobs.
Findings
The case studies suggest that GRINGOs can bring significant benefits to organisations, but are also challenging to manage: organisations which cannot offer them opportunities for career development risk having an able but resolutely uncommitted group of staff.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on a relatively limited sample, and the respondents were in management, so the findings were not triangulated with the perceptions of GRINGOs within the organisations. There is a paucity of literature examining the consequences of the GRINGO and the challenges that they pose for organisations, and this paper seeks to explore these issues and prompts further research in this area.
Practical implications
The paper suggests that organisations are not fully utilising the potential of their GRINGO staff, and identifies ways in which HR departments might respond to this issue.
Originality/value
The article makes an original contribution to the literature on graduate under‐employment, by examining the issue from an organisational perspective.
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The purpose of this paper is to estimate the extent of “over‐qualification” (i.e. holding a qualification which is above that required to gain entry to the job being done) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to estimate the extent of “over‐qualification” (i.e. holding a qualification which is above that required to gain entry to the job being done) and “skills under‐utilisation” (i.e. being in a job which does not make use of the knowledge and skills possessed) in the United Kingdom and to examine whether these conditions are correlated with age.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of the 2006 Skills Survey. Cross tabulations of both conditions with age are produced and binomial probit estimates of both conditions are reported.
Findings
It is estimated that 38 per cent are over qualified; 15 per cent are in jobs which do not make use of the knowledge and skills they possess; and age is correlated with the probability of being over qualified but not with the condition of under‐utilising the knowledge and skills possessed.
Social implications
Skills policy in the United Kingdom focuses almost exclusively upon increasing the supply of more highly qualified individuals. Given the extent of over‐qualification and skills under‐utilisation demonstrated in the paper, more effort should be made by policy makers to design and implement policies which increase the demand for highly skilled labour.
Originality/value
The paper answers three questions: How prevalent are qualification mismatches? How prevalent are skills mismatches? To what extent are the two conditions of being over‐qualified and being in a job which does not offer scope to make use of the knowledge and skills possessed correlated with age?