Does university choice drive graduates’ employability?

Ciriaci, Daria and Muscio, Alessandro (2010): Does university choice drive graduates’ employability?

Abstract

Universities have come under increasing pressure to become key drivers of economic development in the age of the knowledge economy. Yet we know very little about the impact of university quality and scientific excellence on the probability of graduates finding jobs. This paper investigates the determinants of Italian graduates’ employability 1-year and 3-years after graduation, with special reference to university quality measured in terms of research performance. Our results confirm that the ‘better’ the university, the higher the likelihood that graduates will be employed. We also observe strong effects associated with field of study, and wide regional differences.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: University quality; returns to education; labour market outcomes, employment
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I23 - Higher Education ; Research Institutions; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity

References

Black, Dan A., and Jeffrey A. Smith. 2004. How Robust is the Evidence on the Effects of College Quality? Evidence from Matching. Journal of Econometrics, 121, no. 1: 99-124.

Black Dan A., and Jeffrey A. Smith. 2006. Estimating Returns to College Quality with Multiple Proxies for Quality. Journal of Labor Economics, 24, no. 3: 701-728.

Boero, Gianna, Abigail McKnight, Naylor, Robin, and Jeffrey Smith. 2001. Graduates and graduate labour markets in the UK and Italy, Working Paper CRENoS 200111, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Italy.

Borjas, George J. 1987. Self-Selection and the Earnings of Immigrants. American Economic Review, 77: 531-553.

Brand, Jennie E. and Charles N. Halaby. 2006, Regression and matching estimates of the effects of elite college attendance on labor market outcomes. Social Science Research, 35, no. 3: 749-770.

Bratti, Massimiliano. 2002. Does the choice of university matter?: a study of the differences across UK universities in life sciences students' degree performance. Economics of Education Review, 21, no. 5: 431-443.

Bratti, Massimiliano, McKnight, Abigail, Naylor, Robin, and Jeremy Smith. 2004. Higher Education Outcomes, Graduate Employment and University Performance Indicators. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 167, no. 3: 475-496.

Brunello, Giorgio, and Lorenzo Cappellari. 2008. The Labour Market Effects of Alma Mater: Evidence from Italy. Economics of Education Review 27, no. 5: 564-574.

Brunello, Giorgio, and Daniele Checchi. 2005. School quality and family background in Italy. Economics of Education Review, 24, no. 5: 563-577.

Brunello, Giorgio, Lupi, Claudio and Patrizia Ordine. 2001, Widening Differences in Regional Unemployment in Italy. Labour Economics, 1: 123-149.

Card, David, and Alan B. Krueger. 1992. Does School Quality Matter? Returns to Education and the Characteristics of Public Schools in the United States. Journal of Political Economy, 100, no. 1:1-40.

Chiswick, Barry R. 2000. Are Immigrants Favourably Self-Selected? An Economic Analysis. IZA Discussion Paper No. 131.

Ciriaci, Daria 2005. La fuga del capitale umano qualificato dal Mezzogiorno: un catching-up sempre più difficile, Rivista Economica del Mezzogiorno, no. 2.

Ciriaci, Daria. 2007. Tasso di crescita naturale e crescita cumulativa nelle regioni italiane. Moneta e Credito, LX, n. 239: 287-310.

Ciriaci, Daria. 2010. University Quality, Interregional Brain Drain and Spatial Inequality. The case of Italy, Luiss Lab of European Economics, LLLE Working paper, 87/2010.

D'Hombres, Beatrice, Stefano Tarantola and Daniel Van Nijlen. 2008. Labour market performance of university graduates: Evidence from Italy. JRC Scientific and technical Reports, CRELL, European Commission, Ispra.

Di Pietro, Giorgio and Antonio Cutillo. 2006. University Quality and Labour Market Outcomes in Italy. Review of Labour Economics & Industrial Relations, 20, no. 1: 37-62.

Dolton, Peter, and Anna Vignoles. 2000. The incidence and effects of overeducation in the UK graduate labour market. Economics of Education Review: 179-198.

Geuna, Aldo, and Alessandro Muscio. 2009. The Governance of University Knowledge Transfer: A Critical Review of the Literature. Minerva, 47, 93-114.

Glaeser, Edward L., and Matthew Resseger. 2010. The Complementarity between Cities and Skills. Journal of Regional Science, 50, no. 1: 221-244.

Glaeser, Edward L., and David C. Mare. 2001. Cities and skill. Journal of Labor Economics 9, no. 2: 316–342.

Goldstein H, and D. Spiegelhalter. 1996. League tables and their limitations: statistical issues in comparisons of institutional performance. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 159, no. 3: 385-443.

Graziani, Augusto. 1978. The Mezzogiorno in the Italian Economy. Cambridge Journal of Economics 2: 355-372.

Heckman, James and Richard Robb. 1985. Alternative methods for evaluating the impact of interventions. In Longitudinal Analysis of Labor Market Data, ed. Heckman, J. and Singer, B., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Hussain Iftikhar, Sandra McNally, and Shqiponja Telhaj. 2009. University quality and graduate wages in UK. Centre for the Economics of Education, London School of Economics, Working Paper CEE DP 99, London.

ISTAT-Istituto Nazionale di Statistica. 2009. L’inserimento professionale dei laureati, Roma.

James, Estelle, Alsalam, Nabeel, Conaty, Joseph and To, Duc Le 1989. College quality and future earnings: where should you send your child to college?. American Economic Review, 79, no. 2: 247-252.

MIUR-Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca. 2007. CIVR, Comitato per la Valutazione della Ricerca, VTR 2001–2003, Relazione Finale, Roma.

Saraceno, Pasquale. 1983. Trent’anni di intervento straordinario (1951-1981). Studi SVIMEZ, Marzo-Aprile.

Smith, David and J. Sylvain Katz. 2000. Collaborative approaches to research. HEFCE Fundamental Review of Research Policy and Funding, Final Report.

Smith, Jeremy and Robin Naylor. 2001. Determinants of Degree Performance. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 63: 29-60.

Smith, Jeremy, McKnight Abigail and Naylor Robin 1999. Graduate employment outcomes and university performance measures. Economic Journal, 110, no. 464: 382-411.

Spence, Michael 1973. Job market signalling. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, no. 3: 355-374.