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Good workers for good jobs: improving education and workforce systems in the US

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  • Harry Holzer

Abstract

Stagnant earnings and growing inequality in the US labor market reflect both a slowdown in the growth of worker skills and the growing matching of good-paying jobs to skilled workers. Improving the ties between colleges, workforce institutions, and employers would help more workers gain the needed skills. Evaluation evidence shows that training programs linked to employers and good-paying jobs are often cost-effective. Helping more states develop such programs and systems would help raise worker earnings and reduce inequality. Copyright Holzer; licensee Springer. 2012

Suggested Citation

  • Harry Holzer, 2012. "Good workers for good jobs: improving education and workforce systems in the US," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 1(1), pages 1-19, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:izalpo:v:1:y:2012:i:1:p:1-19:10.1186/2193-9004-1-5
    DOI: 10.1186/2193-9004-1-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Steven W. Hemelt & Nathaniel L. Schwartz & Susan M. Dynarski, 2020. "Dual‐Credit Courses and the Road to College: Experimental Evidence from Tennessee," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(3), pages 686-719, June.
    2. Holzer, Harry J. & Dunlop Velez, Erin, 2013. "Just the Facts, Ma'am: Postsecondary Education and Labor Market Outcomes in the U.S," IZA Discussion Papers 7319, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Long, Mark C. & Goldhaber, Dan & Huntington-Klein, Nick, 2015. "Do completed college majors respond to changes in wages?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Penelope B. Prime & Donald Grimes & Mary Beth Walker, 2016. "Exploring Wage Determination by Education Level," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 30(3), pages 191-202, August.
    5. Hemelt, Steven W. & Lenard, Matthew A. & Paeplow, Colleen G., 2019. "Building bridges to life after high school: Contemporary career academies and student outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 161-178.
    6. Werner Eichhorst & Núria Rodríguez-Planas & Ricarda Schmidl & Klaus F. Zimmermann, 2015. "A Road Map to Vocational Education and Training in Industrialized Countries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 68(2), pages 314-337, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Workforce; Good jobs; J24; J31;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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