The aim of this paper is two folds. First, we perform a review of empirical research that report the vertical mismatch and/or field of study mismatch in Turkey. Second, we provide additional evidence from two perspectives which are (i) change in vertical mismatch and field of study mismatch over time and (ii) their overlapping mismatch. Using dataset from Turkish Statistical Institute labor force surveys, we conduct our analyses for two separate target groups, namely vocational and technical high schools and higher education. The main findings are as follows: The mismatch literature on Turkey has been growing for the recent years but is still very limited. The incidence of both the vertical and field of study mismatch is higher for vocational and technical high schools in all periods examined. Both mismatches increased over time for both target groups, and that the rate of increase in higher education is higher than that in vocational and technical high schools. Regarding the overlapping mismatch, we define three mismatch categories, namely mere field of study mismatch, mere overeducation and full-mismatch. We find that 40.6% of employees from higher education and 70.2% of employees from vocational and technical high schools are mismatched by any category.

Using a micro dataset from labor force survey of Turkey, this paper estimates the effects of covariates on wages by employing a quantile regression method, with special emphasis on the effect of overlapping mismatch. The analyses are conducted separately for two target groups: the employees who graduated from (i) higher education and (ii) vocational and technical high schools. For both target groups, employees who are well-matched by field of study but overeducated (mere vertical mismatch) and those who are both overeducated and mismatched by field of study (full-mismatch) incur wage penalties at an increasing rate along the wage distribution. However, for higher education, the effect of mere field of study mismatch (well-matched by education level but mismatched by field of study) on wages is mixed and novel to some extent in the literature. More notably, employees who graduated from higher education and who are merely field of study mismatched incur wage penalties at the first three quantiles of wage distribution but earn more than the well-matched employees at higher quantiles. This finding suggests that mere field of study mismatch need not be considered negative per se but it yields a wage premium, especially at higher quantiles of the wage distribution. This novel finding might imply that these employees are highly skilled and are preferred by employers with a reward of higher wages.