DIFFERENTIATING BETWEEN EARLY AND POST-GRADUATION WORK EXPERIENCE: THE EFFECT OF WORKING WHILE STUDYING AT UNIVERSITY ON FUTURE LABOR MARKET PRODUCTIVITY IN RUSSIA

Abstract

This study examines the effect of early work experience on future labor market outcomes in Russia, taking into account the work intensity. The paper aims to identify the wage returns associated with working while studying at university in recent years and analyze the effect of differentiating between early and post graduation work experiences on the returns to other wage determinants. The study relies on the Mincerian specification for the earnings function and uses Heckman’s 2-step selection to account for possible selection bias. The results suggest that having early work experience positively affects post-graduation labor market outcomes. The regression output shows that working full-time while studying at university yields the highest returns compared to the effects of part-time early work experience and working over breaks. Additionally, including early work experience in the standard model for estimating the wage determinants may show that the effects of education and experience may be overstated when the model does not control for having work experience before graduation