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Is Over-Education a Problem in Spain? Empirical Evidence Based on the EU-SILC

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Abstract

Spain is suffering an important economic slowdown which affects significantly to unemployment rises. For this reason, many individuals are considering to increase their educational level. However, this decision can lead to get worse labor market indicators. In this paper, we analyze the problem of over-education in Spain and its effect on earnings. Using the last four waves (2009–2012) of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, 2009–2012) this study analyses over-education situation of employed people and compares over-education rates and earnings of these individuals. Cross-sectional analysis (focused on a recent period of time) is performed. We apply different matching techniques based on propensity score methods to evaluate the impact of over-education on personal earnings. The results obtained in this paper add more empirical evidence supporting the effect of education on earnings together with occupational placement because over-education could be a great problem for many countries. In Spain, there exists a problem of over-education which varies among occupations. Overeducated workers are most likely to be found among “Service workers and shop and market sales workers” and “Elementary occupations”. Also, the majority of individuals working as “Professionals” are adequately educated. Besides, over-education has a significant negative impact on earnings. Although the results depend on the way we define over-education (interval or modal method), those individuals over-educated receive less earnings than they correspond to. In fact, the decrease can reach about 5000 euro per year.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the editor and anonymous referees for their valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Cantabria, Santander, Spain

    Marta Pascual Sáez, Noelia González-Prieto & David Cantarero-Prieto

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  1. Marta Pascual Sáez
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  2. Noelia González-Prieto
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  3. David Cantarero-Prieto
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Correspondence to Marta Pascual Sáez.

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Pascual Sáez, M., González-Prieto, N. & Cantarero-Prieto, D. Is Over-Education a Problem in Spain? Empirical Evidence Based on the EU-SILC. Soc Indic Res 126, 617–632 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-015-0916-7

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