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Undereducation and overeducation in the Australian labour market

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Authors
Voon, Derby
Miller, Paul
Date
2005
Type
Conference Paper

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Voon, D. and Miller, P. 2005. Undereducation and overeducation in the Australian labour market, in Christopher Hawkes and Genevieve Walton (ed), Australian Conference of Economists, Sep 27 2004, pp. S22-S33. University of Sydney: Blackwell Publishing Asia.
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Economic Record
Source Conference
Australian Conference of Economists
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Abstract

This paper uses data from the 1996 Census of Population and Housing Household Sample File (HSF) to study the incidence of mismatch between workers’ educational attainments and the requirements of their jobs, and the earnings consequences of this mismatch. It also examines whether mismatch contributes to the explanation of the gender wage differential in the Australian labour market. It is found that approximately 15.8 per cent of men and 13.6 per cent of women are overeducated, whereas approximately 18.5 per cent ofwomen and 13.7 per cent of men are undereducated. Substantial earnings consequences are found to be associated with this mismatch, with surplus schooling yielding relatively low returns. The results suggest that mismatch does not account for the gender wage gap in the Australian labour market; rather the gender wage differential is entrenched in the fundamentals of pay determination.