Qualification mismatch and labour market outcomes : evidence from empirical study in mainland China
Date of Award
5-27-2024
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Policy Studies (DPS)
First Advisor
Prof. MOK Ka Ho Joshua
Abstract
The development of education and the enhancement of employment quality are crucial to national economic growth and social stability. While the expansion of education in China has raised the educational level of workers, the problem of overeducation has also become more and more prominent. It has become an essential factor that hinders workers' high-quality employment. This study defines the connotation of overeducation from the micro level. It measures the employment quality of workers from four dimensions: objective wage income, occupational mobility, and subjective job satisfaction and turnover intention, based on the principle of combining subjectivity and objectivity in the construction of indicators. A theoretical analysis framework of overeducation's impact on workers' employment quality is constructed from a multidisciplinary perspective. Finally, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods is used, taking into account the current situation of overeducation and the characteristics of labour market development in mainland China. Using micro-data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) and the China General Social Survey (CGSS), as well as in-depth interviews with employees and employers, the impact of overeducation on employment quality and its mechanism of action were empirically examined and explored.
The main research findings are as follows: Both theoretical analyses and quantitative empirical tests show that overeducation reduces workers' wage income and job satisfaction, increases their propensity to leave, and does not contribute to upward occupational mobility. These are contrary to the connotations of high employment quality, implying that overeducation generally reduces the employment quality at the same level of education. Employee and employer choices about the job-education mismatch have important implications for employment quality, with graduates who are passively resigned to their current jobs and wish to change their disadvantaged position through overeducation likely to be discouraged. Moreover, employers responding to the trend of educational expansion by recruiting overeducated employees do not fully use excess human capital. China's traditional utilitarian values of learning and entrenched views of employment make it impossible to meet key career expectations, and the employment quality for overeducated workers will decline. Education-job matches, key career expectations and employment quality constantly change at different career development and life course stages. Employers are well aware of the overeducation problem they now face. However, they still believe that the mechanics of internal labour markets kicked in based on merit-based performance rather than qualification and that managing the career aspirations of graduates is a big challenge. The present research makes up for the weak research on overeducation in China and opens the "black box" of the relationship between overeducation and employment quality. In reality, it can also provide a policy basis for the Chinese government to guide schools to deepen their reforms, enterprises to optimise human capital allocation, and individuals to invest rationally in education and choose employment.
Language
English
Copyright
The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Chen, X. (2024). Qualification mismatch and labour market outcomes: Evidence from empirical study in mainland China (doctoral thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd_tpg/23/
