Wage returns to university disciplines in Greece: are Greek higher education degrees Trojan horses?

Arbeitspapier

This paper examines the wage returns to qualifications and academic disciplines in the Greek labour market. Exploring wage responsiveness across various degree subjects in Greece is interesting, as it is characterised by high levels of graduate unemployment, which vary considerably by field of study, and relatively low levels of wage flexibility. Using micro-data from recently available waves (2002-2003) of the Greek Labour Force Survey (LFS), the returns to academic disciplines are estimated by gender and public/private sector. Quantile regressions and cohort interactions are also used to capture the heterogeneity in wage returns across the various disciplines. The results show considerable variation in wage premiums across the fields of study, with lower returns for those that have a marginal role to play in an economy with a rising services/shrinking public sector. Educational reforms that pay closer attention to the future prospects of university disciplines are advocated.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 4442

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: Public Policy
• Subject: Academic disciplines ; wage returns ; higher education ; Greece ; Bildungsertrag ; Akademische Berufe ; Studienfach ; Hochschulreform ; Griechenland

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Livanos, Ilias ; Pouliakas, Konstantinos
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/35860
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET