B.F. Kiker

Male-female wage differentials: Additional evidence

Abstract By applying a richer data set than others have used to a simultaneous equation regression model, the analysis sheds new light on the existence and magnitude of the male-female wage differential.

Overeducation and undereducation: Evidence for Portugal

Abstract Using a unique data set of Portuguese workers, we attempt to contribute additional empirical evidence to the debate on whether or not a discrepancy exists between the educational attainment of workers and the skill requirements of jobs, with the related impact on earnings functions and the returns to education. It appears that earnings are not uniquely determined on the basis of the educational attainment of workers. The placement of the worker in a particular job plays a role in wage determination. Hence, estimates of the impact of education on earnings using the standardized human capital earnings model may give misleading results, as estimates of the return to additional education beyond that required to perform the job may be lower than those associated with required education.

The role of human capital and technological change in overeducation

Abstract We employ Portuguese data to test two competing hypotheses about the impact of overeducation and undereducation on earnings. First, undereducation is the outcome of a process in which market-acquired capital substitutes for insufficient school-supplied qualifications, whereas overeducation is associated with excess schooling but short tenure and job experience. The second hypothesis calls upon changes in the technology of production and marketing to explain why some workers end up as inadequately educated for the tasks that they perform, while at the same time, others (holding identical jobs but more schooling) are perceived to be overeducated. Our findings appear to leave little room for explanations of the overeducation/undereducation phenomenon rooted in the trade-off between different forms of human capital. The hypothesis of technology-induced pockets of overeducation and undereducation is consistent with Portuguese reality, characterized in the last decade by intensive efforts to promote economic growth, to modernize the industrial structure and to upgrade educational qualifications. [ JEL J24, I21, O30]

Human Capital and Earnings in Portugal.

Abstract Evidence is presented on the determinants of labor market earnings in the Portuguese work force. Using a large microdata set, we estimate basic and expanded Mincerian earnings functions for the total and various segments of the Portuguese work force. Rates of return to schooling, tenure and experience are estimated. The results are consistent with expectations and with those found for other countries of similar development. We also present evidence on the rates of return to surplus education and undereducation in Portugal. Decomposing gender and employment-sector earnings differentials into “attribute effects” and “price effects” reveals that price effects are more important than attribute effects in explaining gender and employment-sector earnings differences. The results of a test of regional labor market differences suggest that labor markets appear to be geographically in disequilibrium; the rate of return to various regressors including schooling, tenure and experience have not equilibrated across regions.

Further evidence on the screening hypothesis

Abstract In two recent studies that have appeared in this journal, Katz and Ziderman (1980) and Psacharopoulos (1979) investigate the screening hypothesis using different methodologies and data sources (nation-wide household surveys for Israel and the United Kingdom, respectively). For this paper, we employ data for the United States and extend their analysis. Our general conclusion is that, regardless of the techniques used to test for its existence, the screening hypothesis draws no empirical support from United States data.

Socioeconomic Background, Schooling, Experience and Monetary Rewards in the United States

Using a selective sample from the 1977 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the authors investigate the relations among schooling, job experience, socioeconomic status (SES), IQ, and earnings in the United States. In contrast to the results for the United Kingdom reported by John Papanicolaou and George Psacharopoulos, we find no interaction effect on earnings between schooling and SES. A positive interaction effect on earnings , however, is found between experience and SES. Introducing IQ in the analysis leaves the above-mentioned results unchanged. It is argued that differences between the U.S. and the U.K. might be due to cultural and labor- market factors. Copyright 1986 by The Review of Economic Studies Limited.

The effect of socioeconomic background on earnings: a comparison by race

Abstract Consistent with previous studies, we find that family background variables exert significant indirect effects on earnings of both white and black males. In the case of blacks, parental income in particular exerts a significant direct effect on earnings. Education is found to be a much more important determinant of black earnings than white earnings, while job tenure has the reverse relationship. After adjustments, parental income and level of education exert the strongest effects on reducing the black-white earnings differential.

The impact of motivation and socioeconomic background on earnings

Abstract In an effort to examine the effect of achievement motivation and socioeconomic background on the earnings of young men, a path model has been specified and estimated using OLS. Using a richer data set than others have had available, we find that motivation and socioeconomic differences are significant in explaining earnings differences.

A note on the effect of schooling, experience and aging on wage growth

Abstract Our analysis of the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men data suggests that changes in job experience and schooling play a large part in explaining wage growth, leaving a negative effect of chronological aging per se .