Aleksander Kucel

Labor Market Effects of Field of Study in Comparative Perspective : An Analysis of 22 European Countries

This article seeks to provide one of the first systematic comparative analyses of labor market consequences associated with fields of study. Using data of 22 countries from the European Labor Force Surveys (2004 and 2005), we analyze how field of study affects unemployment and occupational status for university-educated graduates. Our core hypothesis is that relative differences between fields should increase with educational expansion at the university level. Results of multilevel two-step regressions generally confirm our expectations. The more students graduate from universities, the greater the differences in labor market chances of university graduates from different fields.

Entrepreneurial skills and wage employment

Promotion of entrepreneurial skills among the population is often considered as an adequate policy to enhance job creation and economic growth. However, neither the definition of entrepreneurial skills, nor the costs and benefits of such a policy are clear. Our aim is to check whether the benefits of entrepreneurial skills extent beyond self-employment. We use a sample of higher education graduates from Spain, from the year 2000 interviewed in 2005 (REFLEX survey). We denote entrepreneurial skills as those competencies that enhance the likelihood of self-employment. Then we analyze whether they are rewarded in wage employment. We find that alertness to new opportunities, ability to mobilize others and knowledge of other fields are the competencies that enhance self-employment in Spain. Yet, these skills are not rewarded in a salaried job. Therefore, benefits of policies fostering entrepreneurial skills do not extend to wage employment in Spain.