Which skills protect graduates against a slack labour market?

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between graduates' skills and their risk of over-education and unemployment in 17 European countries. Distinguishing between field-specific and academic skills, the authors find that, as predicted by the crowding-out hypothesis, field-specific skills offer more protection against the risk of over-education when the excess labour supply in the occupational domain of the graduate's field of study increases. Conversely, academic skills have that effect when excess supply in the overall labour market is higher. Field-specific skills also protect graduates against the risk of unemployment, whereas graduates' level of academic skills appears to be unrelated to the risk of becoming unemployed.increases with the degree of over-supply in the labour market. For the purposes of our analysis, we use data from a survey of graduates conducted in 17 European countries; 2 these data contain skill measures and offer variation in labour market conditions across countries and fields of study. We examine whether the extent to which graduates' labour market risks are affected by their fieldspecific and academic skills depends on the ratio of labour supply to demand. By focusing on individuals at the upper end of the educational distribution around the time of their labour market entry, we are able to distinguish two risks associated with excess labour supply: the risk of over-education and the risk of unemployment. We examine field-specific and academic skills because these represent one of the most important skills dichotomies. 3 This article contributes to the literature in two ways. First, we shed more light on the relationship between field-specific and academic skills and the labour market outcomes of graduates. Second, we analyse how the protective effect of field-specific and academic skills varies with the labour supply and demand ratio. In line with the predictions of the crowding-out hypothesis, we find that the level of protection afforded by field-specific skills against the risk of over-education is higher when the degree of excess labour supply in the occupational domain of the graduate's field of study is higher. Conversely, academic skills offer more protection against the risk of over-education when excess labour supply in the overall labour market is higher. Further, field-specific skills also protect graduates against the risk of unemployment, whereas graduates' level of academic skills appears to be unrelated to the risk of unemployment.The remainder of this article is structured into five sections. The first presents our conceptual framework, and the second, our hypotheses. In the third section, we discuss our data and definitions, and in the fourth, we present our estimation results. The final section then sets forth our conclusions.

The effects of workplace learning in higher education on employment and match quality: is there an early-career trade-off?

“…That each of these dimensions should not necessary have the same implications for labour market outcomes is illustrated by Dolton and Vignoles (2002), who found a strong impact of mathematics A levels on earnings but not of a broader curriculum. Similarly, Humburg et al (2015) found both analytical thinking skills and mastering one's own field to be associated with lower degrees of overeducation among graduates. Probably, each of these dimensions also have different short-run and more long-run labour market implications.…”

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Employment and earnings trajectories before and after sickness absence due to major depressive disorder: a nationwide case–control study

“…We investigated: (a) the average reduction in the employment rate and earnings in individuals after the onset of first recorded sickness absence due to MDD, (b) whether individuals with sickness absence due to MDD have lower employment rate and earnings before the first MDD-related sickness absence, (c) whether the association between MDD and employment differs according to the severity of MDD and duration of sickness absence related to MDD, (d) whether associations were similar in all educational groups. The heterogeneity analysis is important because high education may protect individuals from loss of earnings 30 . Depression diagnoses and reporting of depressive symptoms are more common in women than in men 31 , although previous studies have provided mixed empirical findings whether the association between MDD and socioeconomic factors differs between men and women 29,32,33 .…”

Psychological Determinants of Job Search Intention Among Fresh Graduates for the Supply of Labour Force in the Digital Era

“…In the age of technological advances, graduates are the most valued source of labour force for any employers. While many studies have been conducted to assess skills and readiness of graduates to enter the job market, recent focuses are on skills demand and modern job market requirements (Figueiredo et al, 2017;Humburg et al, 2017;Matsouka & Mihail, 2016). Therefore, it raises the question of what determines fresh graduates to search for jobs?…”