IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v12y2023i10p547-d1250981.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

School-to-Work Transitions under Unequal Conditions: A Regionalised Perspective on the ‘Discouraged Worker’ Hypothesis

Author

Listed:
  • Katarina Wessling

    (Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), 53113 Bonn, Germany
    Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA), Maastricht University, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands)

  • Andreas Hartung

    (Department of Spatial and Environmental Planning, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU), 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany)

  • Steffen Hillmert

    (Department of Sociology, University of Tuebingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany)

Abstract

Against the background of considerable regional disparities, we test the “discouraged worker” hypothesis, which postulates that poor regional socioeconomic conditions foster students’ aspirations for more education, ultimately leading to an extension of their educational careers. Our two dependent variables are (i) whether students aspire to prolong their general school careers or enter vocational training and (ii) whether they in fact prolong their school careers. To that end, we link regional-level data to individual-level data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). To describe regional conditions adequately, we illustrate geographical patterns in socioeconomic conditions relevant for school-to-work transitions (e.g., labour market conditions and availability of vocational training opportunities). We compare two operationalisations of regional areas: (i) administrative districts and (ii) public transport areas. Our results show that students are more likely to aspire to prolong their general school careers in socioeconomically deprived regions. Moreover, the effects are stronger when school-based vocational training opportunities are scarce. The effects on actual transitions vary according to the school track attended and the availability of educational alternatives in the general school system. Finally, the operationalisation of regions varies regarding effect sizes and corresponding levels of statistical significance.

Suggested Citation

  • Katarina Wessling & Andreas Hartung & Steffen Hillmert, 2023. "School-to-Work Transitions under Unequal Conditions: A Regionalised Perspective on the ‘Discouraged Worker’ Hypothesis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-23, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:10:p:547-:d:1250981
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/10/547/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/12/10/547/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brunello, Giorgio, 2009. "The Effect of Economic Downturns on Apprenticeships and Initial Workplace Training: A Review of the Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 4326, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Maarten van Ham & Clara H. Mulder & Pieter Hooimeijer, 2001. "Local Underemployment and the Discouraged Worker Effect," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(10), pages 1733-1751, September.
    3. Finger, Claudia, 2016. "Institutional constraints and the translation of college aspirations into intentions—Evidence from a factorial survey," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 46, pages 112-128.
    4. Katarina Weßling & Nora Bechler, 2019. "Where do regional influences matter? The impact of socio-spatial indicators on transitions from secondary school to university [Wo hat Region einen Einfluss? Effekte sozialräumlicher Indikatoren au," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 39(2), pages 163-188, October.
    5. Alberto Tumino, 2013. "The effect of local labour market conditions on educational choices: a cross country comparison," ImPRovE Working Papers 13/06, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mueller, Barbara & Wolter, Stefan C., 2011. "The Consequences of Being Different: Statistical Discrimination and the School-to-Work Transition," IZA Discussion Papers 5474, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Franziska Meyer & Oliver Winkler, 2023. "Place of Residence Does Matter for Educational Integration: The Relevance of Spatial Contexts for Refugees’ Transition to VET in Germany," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-30, February.
    3. Malgorzata Mikucka, 2016. "How to Measure Employment Status and Occupation in Analyses of Survey Data? (Jak mierzyc status zatrudnienia i pozycjê zawodowa w analizach danych sondazowych?)," Problemy Zarzadzania, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 14(60), pages 40-60.
    4. Ewa Gałecka-Burdziak & Marek Góra, 2016. "The impact of easy and early access to old-age benefits on exits from the labour market: a macro-micro analysis," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Maarten Van Ham & Felix Buchel, 2006. "Unwilling or unable? spatial and socio-economic restrictions on females' labour market access," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 345-357.
    6. Shalina Susan MATHEW, 2024. "Working, yet not working: Assessing labour underutilization in India," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 163(1), pages 141-162, March.
    7. Samuel Muehlemann & Harald Pfeifer & Bernhard Wittek, 2020. "The effect of business cycle expectations on the German apprenticeship market: Estimating the impact of Covid-19," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0171, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    8. Chiara Castelli & Angela Parenti, 2020. "Commuting in Europe: An Inter-regional Analysis on its Determinants and Spatial Effects," Working Papers 2020.19, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    9. Thomsen, Stephan L. & Trunzer, Johannes, 2020. "Did the Bologna Process Challenge the German Apprenticeship System? Evidence from a Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 13806, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Beate Henschel, 2008. "Why is the share of women willing to work in East Germany larger than in West Germany? A logit model of extensive labour supply decision," ifo Working Paper Series 56, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    11. Johann Fuchs & Enzo Weber, 2017. "Long-term unemployment and labour force participation: a decomposition of unemployment to test for the discouragement and added worker hypotheses," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(60), pages 5971-5982, December.
    12. Samuel Lüthi & Stefan C. Wolter, 2020. "Are apprenticeships business cycle proof?," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 156(1), pages 1-11, December.
    13. Daniel Goller & Stefan C. Wolter, 2021. "“Too shocked to search” The COVID-19 shutdowns’ impact on the search for apprenticeships," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 157(1), pages 1-15, December.
    14. Buchel, Felix & van Ham, Maarten, 2003. "Overeducation, regional labor markets, and spatial flexibility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 482-493, May.
    15. Dietz Daniel & Zwick Thomas, 2020. "Training in the Great Recession – Evidence from an Individual Perspective," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(4), pages 493-523, August.
    16. Thomas Bolli & Guillaume Morlet, 2023. "Does human capital theory govern the relationship between training provision and the business cycle? Evidence from Switzerland," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2023 26, Stata Users Group.
    17. Emilio Congregado & Ewa Galecka-Burdziak & Antonio A. Golpe & Robert Pater, 2021. "Separating aggregate discouraged and added worker effects: the case of a former transition country," Oeconomia Copernicana, Institute of Economic Research, vol. 12(3), pages 729-760, September.
    18. Grace Weishi Gu, 2018. "Employment and the Cyclical Cost of Worker Benefits," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 28, pages 96-120, April.
    19. Jajati Keshari Parida & Shiba Shankar Pattayat & Sher Verick, 2023. "Why is the size of discouraged labour force increasing in India?," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(5), pages 3601-3630, October.
    20. Ayça Akarçay Gürbüz & Sezgin Polat & Mustafa Ulus, 2014. "In Limbo: Exploring Transition to Discouragement," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 26(4), pages 527-551, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:12:y:2023:i:10:p:547-:d:1250981. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.