All Rights Reserved
AccessEcon LLC 2006, 2008.
Powered by MinhViet JSC

 
Erdal Atukeren and Aniela Wirz
 
''An analysis of perceived overqualification in the Swiss labor market''
( 2005, Vol. 9 No.2 )
 
 
This paper takes Switzerland as a case study and examines the determinants of (perceived) overqualification in a macroeconomic setting where there is indeed excess demand for qualified labor. Our analyses show that overqualification in the Swiss labor market cannot be explained by possible rigidities and discrimination. Hence, the labor market in Switzerland must in general be considered as efficient. Hence, unobserved heterogeneity should indeed account for the phenomenon of overqualification / overeducation. Nonetheless, women's family commitments are found to restrict the full utilization of their investment in human capital. Thus, there exists some room for policy measures to improve the job – education match of women (especially of those who have children between 0 – 6 years of age) by increasing the availability of external child care facilities and / or making child care at home more affordable.
 
 
Keywords: Overeducation
JEL: I2 - Education: General
N3 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: General, International, or Comparative
 
Manuscript Received : Mar 04 2005 Manuscript Accepted : Mar 04 2005

  This abstract has been downloaded 2341 times                The Full PDF of this paper has been downloaded 166541 times