The earnings advantage of university education: a case study of the financial sector in Hong Kong

There has been a massification of higher education in Hong Kong since the late 1980s. In addition to programmes offered by local higher education institutions, there are plenty of off-shore degree programmes provided by overseas institutions. In the meantime, Hong Kong has been restructured to an international financial centre, and its financial sector has become one of the largest employers. This cross-sectional study based on Hong Kong’s 2011 census data examined the economic effects of university education in terms of earnings in the financial sector of Hong Kong. The major findings about the earnings effect in the sector are: firstly, a match between education and occupation does not necessarily bring about an earnings advantage; secondly, it refutes previous studies reporting that women are disadvantaged in terms of pay as compared with men; thirdly, workers holding an off-shore degree suffer an earnings disadvantage compared with those holding a local or overseas degree. The results also revealed that the provision of off-shore degree programmes in Hong Kong might be of concern to the government and community.