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12 % less than economic graduates in 1996 and 2002 respectively. Transport graduates earn
12 % more than economic graduates in 1996 and this increased to 18 % in 2002.
The samples used in Table 6.2 also includes graduates with a PhD-degree. To check for a
possible bias of the results by this group we repeated all estimations for a sample excluding
those with a PhD-degree. The results are quite similar. Since 1996, the relative wage position of
S&E graduates at both levels of higher education has deteriorated against all other graduates. In
addition, wages of S&E graduates strongly decline while compared to economic graduates at
the university level and remain stable at the HBO level.
Moreover, the previous estimates focus on monthly wages and do not take changes in fringe
benefits into account. From 1996 onwards, the Wage Structure Survey also contains data on the
fringe benefits received by the different graduates. We constructed a new wage variable
consisting of the structural and incidental elements and repeated all estimations of Table 6.2.
The results are quite similar, although the drop in wages since 1996 of S&E graduates
compared to economic graduates has been 1 %-point larger.
6.2.1 Wages of S&E graduates working in private R&D
Using again data from the LSO (Wage Structure Survey), we estimate the wage differentials of
graduates working in the private sector. Estimation results are given in Table 6.3, column (1). In
column (2), we also report coefficients for S&E graduates working in R&D occupations. R&D
occupations are defined as the more technical occupations, i.e. in science and engineering. We
estimated the wage differential for later years only, due to a lack of data on sectors and
occupations in the Wage Structure Surveys of 1979 and 1985.
In Table 6.3, columns (1) present the estimates of the wage differential of graduates working
in the private sector. In 1996 S&E graduates on average earned 4 % more at the university level
and 8 % more at the HBO level than other graduates. In 2002 their wage position has
deteriorated, at the university level they earn 4 % less than other graduates and at the HBO-
level their wage advantage has decreased to 2 %. Hence, the findings are quite similar to the
estimates in the top panel of Table 6.2, although the deterioration of the relative wage position
of S&E graduates is stronger in the private sector.
Columns (2) in Table 6.3 and Table 6.4 give an insight in the premium an S&E worker gets
from working in R&D. We compare the wages of S&E graduates working in private R&D and
the wages of other graduates in the private sector. This results in what we call the total wage
differential. I.e. university S&E graduates who ended up working in private R&D earn in 2002
1 % less than other university graduates working in the private sector. This total wage
differential can be computed as the sum of the coefficient of S&E graduates and the coefficient
of an interaction term. We can see that at both levels of higher education S&E graduates
working in R&D earn more than other S&E graduates. The estimated R&D premium lies
between 5 and 10 % and has been decreasing since 1996.
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