Abstract
The cause of immigrant education mismatch in the host country labour market might not necessarily be discrimination or imperfect transferability of human capital, as argued in previous studies. Immigrants who have gained professional experience in the home country in jobs below their education level might be assessed by host country employers as having lower abilities and skills than those expected from their educational qualifications. Using the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia we show that a significant part of the variation in the immigrants' probability to be over-/under-educated in the Australian labour market can be explained by having been over-/under-educated in the last job in the home country.
Highlights
Most of the existing literature in labour economics has argued that education is the key signal employers’ use in determining the level of ability/productivity about those they are likely to employ
Empirical methods The primary concern of this paper is to model the determinants of a mismatch between the actual education and the one formally required for the occupation among immigrants in the Australian labour market
Taking into account the level of professional experience achieved before migration, along with the formal education qualifications, provides a more accurate estimate of the immigrants’ real productivity, especially since the education signal attenuates with work experience
Summary
Most of the existing literature in labour economics has argued that education is the key signal employers’ use in determining the level of ability/productivity about those they are likely to employ. Belman and Heywood (1997) has shown that “the returns to education signals will attenuate with workforce experience” as the skills used and/or developed in previous jobs become more important in determining the real productivity level of potential employees 1. Skills gained through professional experience might be from jobs that do not match the individual’s education level and, might affect future job prospects in a diverging way. Having accumulated experience and skills below the education level may result in a lower probability of getting job offers that match the formal educational qualifications. Having advanced in a previous job to a position involving more knowledge and skills than the ones matching formal education may result in getting subsequent offers for jobs that require a relatively higher education level as well 2
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
