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This paper analyses immigrants' educational mismatch and its impact on wages in Spain. The incidence of immigrants' education-occupation mismatch in the Spanish labour market can largely be explained by the mismatch in the last job held in the home country. The probability of having been over-educated in the home country has a higher effect on the probability of being over-educated in the first job in Spain. Those who were over-educated in their first job are more likely to continue being over-educated in their current job in Spain. Finally, over-educated immigrants earn significantly lower wages compared to their non-over-educated counterparts.

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The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the return to pre-immigration education for non-western immigrants, and explain why it is so low. Returns to one extra year of education is three times higher for ethnic Norwegians than for non-western immigrants. Using the method 'Over-Required-Under' (ORU) education approach, [the authors] reveal that this is because non-western immigrants have lower returns to overeducation and required education, and they also have lower penalties associated with undereducation. These factors together explain more than 60 per cent [of] all of the difference in returns to education between native born and non-western immigrants. Based on different results in this paper, [the authors] argue that both quality of education from the country of birth and lack of transferable skills may be important components.

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Using data from the 2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, the role of occupational heterogeneity in the standard overeducation-required-undereducation (ORU) earnings function introduced by Duncan and Hoffman [1981. The incidence and wage effects of overeducation. Economics of Education Review 1, no. 1: 75–86] is examined. The occupational category of nursing is subdivided into numerous (as many as 267) minor occupational categories in estimating the level of required education. If occupation heterogeneity impacts the ORU earnings function, the effects are likely small as estimates of the ORU earnings functions of nurses are similar to estimates found in other standard multi-occupation studies. Subdividing nursing into minor occupational categories has a tremendous impact on the measured incidences of overeducation, particularly as the number of occupational categories increases from 17 to 39. The results are analogous to findings in the literature which show that varying the measurement of required education has a sizeable impact on incidence levels and little impact on the ORU earnings functions.

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This study explores the effects on earnings of overeducation, required education, and undereducation (ORU) in the Australian graduate labour market, using data from the 1999-2009 Graduate Destination Surveys. The Vahey [2000, ‘The great Canadian training robbery: evidence on the returns to educational mismatch’, Economics of education review, 19 (2): 219-227] dummy variable specification, which permits an assessment of ORU earnings effects at different extents of education mismatch, is adopted in the analysis. The findings reveal that while ORU earnings effects vary considerably across different extents of mismatch, earnings penalties were especially large in lower job categories. There is a strong tendency for earnings to follow jobs and for the distinction among types of university qualifications to lessen the more extensive the overeducation.

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Previous research confirms that many employees work in jobs not well matched to their skills and education, resulting in lower pay and job satisfaction. While this literature typically uses cross-sectional data, we examine the evolution of mismatch and its consequences over a career, by using a panel data set of scientists in the USA. The results show that both the incidence of mismatch and its negative consequences appear concentrated among those late in careers. This suggests that past studies of mismatch may exaggerate the degree of inefficiency in labor market matching.

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Using 1990 US census data, the present paper examines the relationship between overeducation and earnings. The paper updates previous findings and then focuses on those most likely to be overeducated - individuals with post-college schooling. It is hypothesised that specific occupations that require college education may be flexible in their ability to utilise the surplus human capital of the employees. Being overeducated is shown to increase the wages of men working at a job that requires a bachelor's degree. The results are compared with findings in Canada and the UK. Additionally, overeducation is shown to contribute to the gender wage gap.

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