Rosalia Castellano

Graduates in economics and educational mismatch: the case study of the University of Naples ‘Parthenope’ 1

The quality of jobs of economics graduates was studied in terms of educational mismatch. The returns of over‐education on earnings and on the job‐search were also investigated. The discussion regards the second wave of a longitudinal survey of a random sample of economics graduates from the University of Naples ‘Parthenope’, a major school of economics in southern Italy. Over‐education was measured using two different indicators of educational mismatch, one based on an objective parameter and the other on the same parameter combined with a subjective one. A probit regression with selection was carried out to analyse the influence of a set of control variables (such as family, background, employment geography and characteristics of job, work history, gender and channels used to enter the labour market) on over‐education. The same variables were used to study the returns of over‐education on earnings and on the job‐search. The probability of being over‐educated was significantly affected by gender, attainments in Higher Education (HE), channels used to enter the labour market, job location and job sector applied for. Females, lower HE achievers and graduates working in trade/sales or information systems sectors were more likely to be over‐educated than other subjects, whereas use of further education to enter the labour market decreased the probability of being over‐educated. Over‐educated workers were found to have a high probability of low earnings. Over‐education and low earnings induced workers to change jobs.

Gender gap and labour market participation : A composite indicator for the ranking of European countries

Purpose - – The measurement and comparison across countries of female conditions in labour market and gender gap in employment is a very complex task, given both its multidimensional nature and the different scenarios in terms of economic, social and cultural characteristics. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – At this aim, different information about presence and engagement of women in labour market, gender pay gap, segregation, discrimination and human capital characteristics was combined and a ranking of 26 European countries is proposed through the composite indicator methodology. It satisfies the need to benchmark national gender gaps, grouping together economic, political and educational dimensions. Findings - – The results show that female conditions in labour market are the best in Scandinavian countries and Ireland while many Eastern and Southern European countries result at the bottom of classification. Research limitations/implications - – In order to take into account the subjectivity of some choices in composite indicator construction and to test robustness of results, different aggregation techniques were applied. Practical implications - – The authors hope that this new index will stimulate the release of a sort of best practices useful to close labour market gaps, starting from best countries’ scenarios, and the launching of pilot gender parity task forces, as it happened with the Global Gender Gap Index in some countries. Finally, relating gender gap indexes with country policies frameworks for gender inequalities and the connected policy outcomes, it is possible to evaluate their effectiveness and to identify the most adequate initiatives to undertake because policies reducing gender gaps can significantly improve economic growth and standard of living. Social implications - – The analysis gives a contribution in the evaluation of the policies and regulations effectiveness at national level considering the existing welfare regimes and the associated gaps in labour market. It can help policy makers to understand the ramifications of gaps between women and men. The Gender Gap Labour Market Index is constrained by the need for international comparability, but limiting its analysis to European countries; it has been based on ad hoc indicators concerning developed economies and could be readily adapted for use at the national and local levels. Originality/value - – In this paper the authors propose a new composite indicator index specifically focused on gender gap in labour market. Several papers analysed gender differences in wages, employment or segregation, but few of them consider them together, allowing to get a satisfactory informative picture on gender inequalities in labour market and studying in deep its multiple aspects, including discrimination indicators ad hoc calculated, giving to policy makers an useful tool to evaluate female employees conditions and put them in relation with the different input factors existing within each country.

Evolution and decomposition of income inequality in Italy, 1991-2004

The aggregate measures of inequality do not display any significant trend in the concentration of equivalent income among the Italian households in the early 2000s. Yet some sizeable shifts in the income distribution seem to suggest that the relative positions of groups of households have changed on the income scale. Through a decomposition analysis of Gini index by income source we find that in the more recent years the income from self-employment is the main disequalizing factor. The decomposition by social groups provides the evidence that it is the group of self-employed and managers who have gained more ground on the income scale.

Income inequality between overlapping and stratification: a longitudinal analysis of personal earnings in France and Italy

Abstract The aim of this paper is to gain new insights into the generation process of personal income in France and Italy, two countries that are in close geographical proximity but have a large disparity in terms of income growth and distribution. In the first step, the potential of EU-SILC balanced panel (2004–2007) is exploited by random effects models, which also make it possible to explore the primary factors that are likely to explain differences in generating personal labour earnings. In the second step, the ANOGI (Analysis of Gini) decomposition enables one to assess the contribution of each sub-population to overall income inequality and the degree to which each subgroup is stratified. A joint evaluation of income determinants gives evidence of the high complexity of inequality process and throws light on the role of gender, skill levels and job characteristics in determining different degrees of income stratification. Indeed, although the high heterogeneity among members of a same subgroup (within-group inequality) explains a large share of overall income inequality, the between-group inequality becomes significant in explaining the income differentials between employment status and occupation types.

Patterns of earnings differentials across three conservative European welfare regimes with alternative education systems

The aim of this paper is to investigate, from a generational perspective, the effect of human capital on individual earnings and earnings differences in Germany, France and Italy, three developed countries in Western Europe with similar conservative welfare regimes but with important differences in their education systems. Income inequalities between and within education levels are explored using a two-stage probit model with quantile regressions in the second stage. More precisely, drawing upon 2005 EU-SILC data, returns on schooling and experience are estimated separately for employees and self-employed full-time workers by means of Mincerian earnings equations with sample selection; the sample selection correction accounts for the potential individual self-selection into the two labour force types. Although some determinants appear to be relatively similar across countries, state-specific differentials are drawn in light of the institutional features of each national context. The study reveals how each dimension of human capital differently affects individuals’ earnings and earnings inequality and, most of all, how their impacts differ along the conditional earnings distribution and across countries. In the comparative perspective, the countrys leading position in terms of the highest rewards on education also depends on which earnings distribution (employee vs. self-employed) is analysed.

Assessing the gender gap in labour market index: volatility of results and reliability

Purpose - – The construction and use of composite indicators has recently increased considerably because such indicators permit the comparison and ranking of countries with respect to complex phenomena of global importance. Together with the diffusion of these composite indicators, a major debate has emerged over their real capacity to produce objective and reliable results. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – In this paper, an analysis of the results of the Gender Gap Labour Market Index (GGLMI) – an ad hoc composite indicator constructed by the authors to analyse the gender gap in European labour markets – is proposed, in order to identify the most appropriate choices in the construction of composite indicators, to obtain reliable results. This is a sensible approach, especially when various aspects (some of them controversial) have to be synthesised. Findings - – In addition to highlighting the greater robustness of non-compensatory methods, this analysis confirms the variability of countries’ rankings on graded positional lists, and suggests the need to use a procedure based on a set of alternative methods conveniently combined in each step of the composite indicator construction. Research limitations/implications - – The research identifies the weak steps in composite indicator construction and the data characteristics which increase the volatility. Only an approach based on various alternative paths can control for it. Practical implications - – It offers some reflections on the extent to which gender disparities in labour market still persist in European countries and the different ways in which it manifests. Social implications - – The analysis of characteristics and policies activated in countries at the top of the ranking can suggest initiatives to promote gender equality. Originality/value - – Besides of testing the robustness of results, an effort in order to identify the best way to obtain a synthetic and reliable single rank is made. Further, the results produced by the GGLMI for the year 2011 are presented and discussed.

Generational Determinants on the Employment Choice in Italy

Aim of the paper is to explore some crucial factors playing a significant role in employment decision-making in Italy. In particular, we aim at investigating the influence of family background on the choice to be self-employed rather than salaried; for this end, a series of regression models for categorical data is tested both on sampled workers, taken as a whole, and by gender separation. In this light, to test if the employment choice is context-dependent, environmental attributes are also modeled. In addition to a diversity of determinants, our results shed light on some differences between self-employed workers by first and second generation.

The Effects of Socioeconomic Background and Test-taking Motivation on Italian Students’ Achievement

The aim of this work is to analyze the educational outcomes of Italian students and to explain the differences across Italian macro regions. In addition to the “classic” determinants of student achievement (e.g. family socioeconomic background) we investigated the extent to which the test-taking motivation may contribute to influence the results from assessment test and to explain, partially, the Italian territorial disparities. Therefore, a two stage approach is provided. Firstly, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) is applied to obtain a synthetic measure of the test-taking motivation. Secondly, a multilevel regression model is employed to investigate the effect of this measure of test-taking motivation on student performance after controlling for school and student factors.

Measuring poverty and living conditions in Italy through a combined analysis at a sub-national level 1

Aim of this paper is to explore poverty patterns and differentials across Italian provinces for several objective dimensions of life-style deprivation according to a multidimensional and fuzzy approach. We propose a joint analysis of monetary and supplementary deprivation to point out the extent to which the two aspects of poverty overlap for the population concerned, to look into their potential background determinants and to sketch a territorial poverty profile. Since traditional direct estimators, based on ECHP data, cannot provide adequate precision due to smallness of domain-specific sub-sample, we test Rao-Yu models, as extension of Fay-Herriot estimator, to handle time-series data. In addition to a diversity of deficiencies found throughout Italy, empirical evidence clearly emphasize higher degrees of overlap in “poorer” southern provinces and lower degrees in “richer” northern ones, justifying the implementation of different approaches to poverty measurement to identify those areas which, more than others, need structural interventions.

The generational perspective of gender gap in wages and education in southern Europe

Abstract This paper aims at investigating gender differentials in wages and education from an intergenerational perspective across four developed countries of southern Europe, considering the generational transmission of preferences and the gender equality systems and policies. Measures of gender inequality in wages and education permit exploring the different extent to which gender gaps depend on unobserved factors, such as discrimination. A first set of discrimination indexes is computed starting from the estimation of extended Mincerian log-earnings equations, whereas a second set is based on the estimation of ordered logistic regressions on a range of personal characteristics considered to be linked to education, controlling for family background. The main results show that family background affects the degree of gender inequality more than the gender equality policies do. Gender disparities in professional outcomes can be partly due to women’s preferences vs. lower-paid jobs because of the incomplete efficacy of national systems.