Arbeitspapier

Local labor market size and qualification mismatch

This paper investigates the effect of the size of the local labor market on skill mismatch. Using survey data for Germany, I find that workers in large cities are both less likely to be overqualified for their job and to work in a different field than the one they are trained for. Different empirical strategies are employed to account for the potential sorting of talented workers into more urbanized areas. Results on individuals never moving from the place of childhood and fixed-effects estimates obtaining identification through regional migrants suggest that sorting does not fully explain the existing differences in qualification mismatch across areas. This provides evidence of the existence of agglomeration economies through better matches. However, lower qualification mismatch in larger cities is found to explain only a small part of the urban wage premium.

Language
Englisch

Bibliographic citation
Series: ZEW Discussion Papers ; No. 17-055

Classification
Wirtschaft
Analysis of Education
Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics
Subject
agglomeration
labor matching
qualification mismatch
urban wage

Event
Geistige Schöpfung
(who)
Berlingieri, Francesco
Event
Veröffentlichung
(who)
Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)
(where)
Mannheim
(when)
2017

Handle
URN
urn:nbn:de:1006255125
Last update
10.03.2025, 11:46 AM CET

Data provider

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Object type

  • Arbeitspapier

Associated

  • Berlingieri, Francesco
  • Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW)

Time of origin

  • 2017

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