Determinants of the Wage Rates in Greece with an Emphasis on the Wages of Tertiary Education Graduates

The paper examines the determinants of hourly wages in the Greek labour market, with emphasis on education- and experience-related variables, using the information of the 2004-2007 Labour Force Surveys. The results are in line with the predictions of human capital theory and show that, ceteris paribus, education is associated with higher earnings. However, substantial differences are observed within groups of workers with relatively similar educational qualifications and, in particular, within the group of tertiary education graduates. Despite the fact that some of these differences can be attributed to differences in the numbers of years of study required for particular degrees, they translate into widely different private internal rates of return for specific groups of graduates. Nevertheless, these rates cannot be used for the design of public policies, since social rather that private rates of returns should guide such policies