Volume 24, Number 4 (Fall) 1989

Verdugo, Richard R. and Naomi B. Verdugo. 1989. "The Impact of Surplus Schooling on Earnings: Some Corroboration or Rumberger's Findings." Journal of Human Resources 24(4):629-643.

This paper examines the impact of overeducation (or surplus schooling) on earnings. Overeducated workers are defined as those with educational attainments substantially above the mean for their specific occupations. Two models are estimated using data from the 1980 census. Though our models, data, and measure of overeducation are different from those used by Rumberger (1987), our results are similar. Our results show that overeducated workers often earn less than their adequately educated and undereducated counterparts.

Richard Verdugo works in Washington, D.C. and is an associate research scholar at  the Toms Rivera Center, Claremont College. Naomi Verdugo is a demographer at the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. The authors are grateful to Curtis Gilroy, Cyril Kearl, Hyder Lakhani, Roy Nord, and two anonymous referees for their comments. However, the usual disclaimers apply. Address all comments to Richard R. Verdugo, 885 N. Lexington St., Arlington, Virginia 22205.


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