List of abstracts
5d: "Vocational education"

Further Reading: 2006 -

Bauer, Philipp and Regina T. Riphahn (2006). Timing of School Tracking as a Determinant of Intergenerational Transition Economics Letters 91 (1): pp. 90-97. [link]

" We test with Swiss data whether intergenerational educational mobility is affected by the time at which pupils are first streamed in secondary school. Late tracking significantly affects mobility and reduces the relative advantage of children of better educated parents"

Hanushek, Eric and Ludger Woessmann (2006). Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences in Differences Evidence across Countries. Economic Journal 116 (510): pp. C63-76. [link]

We identify tracking effects by comparing differences in outcome between primary and secondary schools across tracked and non tracked systems. The results suggest that early tracking increases educational inequality.

Oosterbeek, H., Sloof, R. & Sonnemans, J. (2007). Who should invest in firm specific training?. Journal of Population Economics, 20 , (2), 329-357. [link]

We study experimentally whether employers or workers should invest in specific training. Workers have an alternative trading opportunity that takes the form of either an outside option or a threat point. Theory predicts that with outside options, employers have (weakly) better investment incentives than workers do and should therefore be the investing party. With threat points, employers and workers are predicted to invest the same. Our results are, by and large, in line with these predictions. Due to offsetting inefficiencies in the bargaining stage, however, realized inefficiencies are remarkably similar across the different situations considered.

Oosterbeek, H. & Webbink, D. (2007). Wage effects of an extra year of basic vocational education. Economics of Education Review, 26 , (4), 408-419. [link]

Until 1975 around half of all graduates from Dutch basic vocational schools finished a 3-years program, the other half finished a 4-years program. In 1975 all 3-years programs were extended to four years. This was accompanied by an increase of the compulsory school leaving age with one year. We evaluate the long-term wage effects of this extra year of basic vocational education using a difference-in-differences approach. The control group consists of graduates from basic vocational programs that did not change in length. We find no beneficial effect from the change. This result suggests that the target group of this policy gains equally from an extra year in vocational school as from an extra year of work experience.

Pischke, Jörn-Steffen and Alan Manning (2006). Comprehensive versus Selective Schooling in England and Wales: What do we know?. NBER Working Paper 12176. [link]

This paper looks at the reform of secondary education in the UK, from selective to comprehensive, and comes out with mixed results on the effects.

List of abstracts 5d: "Vocational education"