NILS Working paper no 170. The impact of major--job mismatch on college graduates' early career earnings

In this paper, I assess the impact of the mismatch between college major and job on college graduates' early career earnings using a sample from China. I find that on average a major--job mismatched college graduate suffers from a small income loss. I argue that Chinese universities' emphasis on both general skills and major-specific skills could possibly explain why the average income penalty from major--job mismatch is very limited for college graduates in China. I also find that the income loss is heterogeneous and skewed that about one third of the major--job mismatched college graduates earn more than those matched ones.