Studies on the underlying mechanisms of social mobility commonly find that
half of the intergenerational earnings persistence remains unexplained. Focusing on
the phenomenon of overqualification, this study examines a transmission channel
that might operate beyond the mechanisms previously analysed. I explore how the
family background of university graduates affects the probability to hold a job that
does not require a tertiary degree, i.e. to be overqualified. Potential pathways of the
family background effects are discussed and proxy variables for the mediating factors
cognitive skills, study characteristics, social capital, financial capital, and aspiration
are incorporated into the empirical analysis. Graduates from families with a high socioeconomic
status are found to be less likely to be overqualified. The unconditional
social overqualification gap amounts to 7.4 percentage points. Non-linear Blinder-
Oaxaca decompositions show that roughly 60% of the social overqualification gap
can be attributed to group differences in observable characteristics. Differences in
cognitive skills, study characteristics, and social capital are found to be important
mediators of the family background effects.
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