Empirical Analysis IV: The Effects of Work Experience on the Transition from Bachelor’s Studies into the Labour Market

Abstract

This last empirical chapter examines the effects of student employment on various labour market outcomes achieved by graduates after completion of Bachelor’s studies—the time they need to find a first job, a first full-time or permanent job, the duration of unemployment they experience, as well as the hourly wage, the level, and the content congruence at the job they hold one and a half years after graduation. The expectation is that work experience from study-related employment would favourably affect both the velocity (the time needed to find employment) and the quality of the school-to-work transition (employment quality one and a half years after graduation). Four theoretical reasons for this were discussed in Chapter 4: study-related work experience can provide occupation-specific human capital (Becker 1962, 1993), strong signals for skills on the labour market (Arrow 1973; Spence 1973), labour-market relevant information (Stigler 1961, 1962), and access to valuable social networks (Granovetter 1973, 1974).