RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Lifecycle
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 48
OP 87
DO 10.3368/jhr.52.1.0415-7074R
VO 52
IS 1
A1 Eric A. Hanushek
A1 Guido Schwerdt
A1 Ludger Woessmann
A1 Lei Zhang
YR 2017
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/52/1/48.abstract
AB Policy proposals promoting vocational education focus on the school-to-work transition. But with technological change, gains in youth employment may be offset by less adaptability and diminished employment later in life. To test for this tradeoff, we employ a difference-in-differences approach that compares employment rates across different ages for people with general and vocational education. Using microdata for 11 countries from IALS, we find strong and robust support for such a tradeoff, especially in countries emphasizing apprenticeship programs. German Microcensus data and Austrian administrative data confirm the results for within-occupational-group analysis and for exogenous variation from plant closures, respectively.