Underemployment of college graduates: is doing anything better than doing nothing?

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ndayikeza, Michel Armel
• 署名单位: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); Universite Clermont Auvergne (UCA)
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-3878
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2025.103459
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Low-skill jobs; underemployment; labor demand; job search; field experiment; Incentivized Resume Rating

摘要

Across low-income countries, limited prospects for high-skill employment and poverty push numerous college graduates into jobs which do not require a college degree. These types of experiences maybe advantageous or detracting for the new graduates. To examine this issue, we conducted afield experiment in Burundi which elicited preferences of employers with respect to low-skill job experience of recent college graduates. We estimate the impact of signaling various types of low-skill experiences, such as working as a phone credit sales agent, a waiter, a security guard and other positions that do not necessitate a college degree, on the hiring interest of employers in a high-skill job. Results indicate that mentioning a low-skill experience on a resume increases by approximately 10% the hiring interest of employers. Furthermore, employers prefer job seekers with low-skill experience rather than individuals with no experience at all, irrespective of the quality of the job seeker.