Overeducation and wages downgrading : conditions of a spatial differentiation

Eric Cahuzac (1) , Vanessa Di Paola (2)

1 ESR - Economie et Sociologie rurales
2 LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail

Most previous studies modeling overeducation has failed to take into account the impact of the local labor markets characteristics. We investigate overeducation in such a context, focusing on employment density. In this paper we restrict our analysis on a statistical approach of the overeducation phenomenon both for skill levels and wages of the early career of French people. Selective access to employment is corrected using a probit analysis with sample selection. Estimations highlight the importance of the characteristics of the labor market to avoid overeducation, more particularly : employment density, commuting time, increase in population or unemployment rate. We also emphasize a substitution (complementary) effect between unemployment and overeducation from a skill (salary) point of view.

Mots clés: Overeducation; Local labor markets; Spatial differentiation; Sample selection

Domaines: Economies et finances

Eric Cahuzac, Vanessa Di Paola. Overeducation and wages downgrading : conditions of a spatial differentiation. SASE 2004 (Society for the advancement of socio-economics), 16th Annual Meeting on Socio-Economics, Washington, 8-11 juillet 2004, Jul 2004. ⟨halshs-00010261⟩