The impact of major–job mismatch on college graduates' early career earnings: evidence from China

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of the mismatch between a college major and job on college graduates' early career earnings using a sample from China. On average, a major–job mismatched college graduate is found to suffer from an income loss that is much lower than the penalty documented in previous studies. The income losses are also found to be heterogeneous and about one-third of the mismatched college graduates earn more than those matched ones.