Sheepskin effects and heterogenous wage-setting behaviour: Evidence from Mozambique

Arbeitspapier

Using a unique panel survey of final-year undergraduates at six of the largest universities in Mozambique, we study the wage premium associated with completing an undergraduate degree. Conditional on a very rich set of controls, including pre-degree earnings, objective measures of ability, and academic performance, we find heterogeneity in 'sheepskin effects' across different kinds of firms. We propose a simple model of wage-setting in which productivity is only partially observable in some firms and fully observable in others. In this setting, education serves both to enhance productivity and as a productivity signal. Consistent with the theory, positions where productivity is likely to be less observable offer larger sheepskin effects.

Angaben zum Objekt

• ISBN: 978-92-9267-463-2
• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: WIDER Working Paper ; No. 2024/5

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Returns to Education ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
• Thema: returns to education ; wage-setting ; productivity ; Mozambique

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Jaeger, David A. ; Jones, Sam
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER)
• (wo): Helsinki
• (wann): 2024

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: doi:10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2024/463-2
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/283851
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ