Lack of skills or formal qualifications? New evidence on cross-country differences in the labor market disadvantage of less-educated adults.

Autor/inn/en	Heisig, Jan Paul; Gesthuizen, Maurice; Solga, Heike
Titel	Lack of skills or formal qualifications? New evidence on cross-country differences in the labor market disadvantage of less-educated adults. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Mangel an Fähigkeiten oder formalen Qualifikationen? Neue Erkenntnisse über internationale Unterschiede beim beruflichen Nachteil von geringqualifizierten Erwachsenen.
Quelle	In: Social science research, (2019) 83, Art. 102314, 40 S. PDF als Volltext Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0049-089X; 1096-0317
DOI	10.1016/j.ssresearch.2019.06.005
Schlagwörter	Soziale Ungleichheit; Kognitive Kompetenz; Lesen; Schreiben; Mathematik; Berufliche Integration; Niedrig Qualifizierter; Qualifikation; Internationaler Vergleich; Benachteiligung; Belgien; Chile; Deutschland; Dänemark; Estland; Finnland; Frankreich; Griechenland; Großbritannien; Irland; Italien; Japan; Kanada; Litauen; Neuseeland; Niederlande; Norwegen; Portugal; Schweden; Singapur; Slowakei; Spanien; Tschechische Republik; Türkei; USA; Österreich
Abstract	We use PIAAC data on the literacy and numeracy skills of 49,366 25-to-54-year-olds in 27 countries to shed new light on cross-national variation in the labor market disadvantage of less-educated adults (i.e., those who have not completed upper secondary education). Our empirical analysis focuses on the occupational status gap between less-educated adults and those with a degree at the upper secondary level and yields three main findings. First, individual-level differences in literacy and numeracy skills are an important source of cross-national variation in labor market inequalities by educational attainment, but substantial gaps in occupational status remain even after accounting for individuals' actual skills and further socio-demographics. Second, this remaining occupational status gap rises with a country's level of "skills transparency" (i.e., the extent to which formal qualifications are more informative about actual skills): labor market gaps increase as the skills gap between the two educational groups increases and as the within-group distribution of skills becomes more homogeneous. Third, country differences in skills transparency seem to be the primary mediating channel for the inequality-enhancing effect of tracking in secondary education found in previous research.
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2020/1