Abstract

The starting point of the project is the observation that the overeducation rate among immigrants is obviously higher than that of natives. The European Union Labour Force Survey on immigrants aged 15-64 in 2011-2012 shows that in Germany, the overqualification rate of foreign born and trained abroad immigrants is 36% compared to 22% of native-born (OECD 2015). From the society’s perspective, this means that the potential human capital of the immigrants is not fully utilized to contribute to the economic development in Germany. And from the individual’s perspective, overeducation leads to lower wages and lower job satisfaction compared to the levels of other individuals whose jobs better match their qualifications. To investigate the determinants of overeducation among immigrants in Germany, variables such as education level, occupation groups, gender, age, marital status, number of children, parent’s education level, first/second generation of immigrants will be controlled for. One of the key contributions of the project is to study the dynamic perspectives of skill mismatch in the labour market to see how the overeducation situation of immigrants evolves over time.