Wage Returns to Field of Study-Occupation Mismatch in Turkish Graduate Labor Market: Quantile Regression Approach

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Aytun U., Meçik O.

EGE ACADEMIC REVIEW, cilt.23, sa.4, ss.653-666, 2023 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 23 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.21121/eab.1164097
  • Dergi Adı: EGE ACADEMIC REVIEW
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.653-666
  • Eskişehir Osmangazi Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

In this paper, we estimate the income effects of horizontal mismatch and its interaction with fields of study for Turkish higher education graduates using the Turkish Labor Force Survey dataset. After controlling the vertical mismatch to reduce potential bias, our baseline findings show that one point (decrease) increase in the (mis)matching index leads to 21.9% wage (penalty) growth. However, the return to the matching varies significantly between fields of study. We also explore the extent to which the impact of horizontal mismatch is sensitive to the ability levels represented by the conditional quantile of the income distribution of graduates. Our quantile regression estimations point us to heterogeneous matching returns for different quantiles of fields of study. While the positive wage effect of matching is significantly valid at the above and below the median income in six and three majors respectively, the three majors’ negative matching is above the median income.