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Improving Educational Pathways to Social Mobility: Evidence from Norway’s Reform 94

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  • Marianne Bertrand
  • Magne Mogstad
  • Jack Mountjoy

Abstract

We study the impacts of a major reform to vocational secondary education that aimed to move beyond the trade-off between providing occupational skills and closing off academic opportunities. Norway’s Reform 94 integrated more general education into the vocational track, offered vocational students a pathway to college, and increased access to apprenticeships. We identify reform impacts through a difference-in-discontinuity research design applied to linked population registries. The reform substantially increased initial vocational enrollment, but with divergent consequences by gender. Overall, the reform succeeded at improving social mobility, particularly for disadvantaged men, but it somewhat exacerbated the gender gap in adult earnings.

Suggested Citation

  • Marianne Bertrand & Magne Mogstad & Jack Mountjoy, 2021. "Improving Educational Pathways to Social Mobility: Evidence from Norway’s Reform 94," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(4), pages 965-1010.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:doi:10.1086/713009
    DOI: 10.1086/713009
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    Cited by:

    1. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes & Guglielmo Ventura, 2022. "On Track to Success? Returns to vocational education against different alternatives," CVER Research Papers 038, Centre for Vocational Education Research.
    2. Neyt, Brecht & Verhaest, Dieter & Baert, Stijn, 2020. "The impact of dual apprenticeship programmes on early labour market outcomes: A dynamic approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Patrick Bennett & Richard Blundell & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2020. "A second chance? Labor market returns to adult education using school reforms," IFS Working Papers W20/28, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Canaan, Serena, 2020. "The long-run effects of reducing early school tracking," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    5. Colin Green & Ole Henning Nyhus & Kari Vea Salvanes, "undated". "How does testing young children influence educational attainment and well-being?," Working Paper Series 19422, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    6. Ollikainen, Jani-Petteri & Karhunen, Hannu, 2021. "A tale of two trade-offs: Effects of opening pathways from vocational to higher education," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    7. Patrick Bennett, 2021. "The Work-To-School Transition: Job Displacement and Skill Upgrading among Young High School Dropouts," CESifo Working Paper Series 9417, CESifo.
    8. Bergolo, M. & Cruces, G., 2021. "The anatomy of behavioral responses to social assistance when informal employment is high," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    9. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Adriana D. Kugler & Mikko I. Silliman, 2020. "Hard and Soft Skills in Vocational Training: Experimental Evidence from Colombia," NBER Working Papers 27548, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Machin, Stephen & McNally, Sandra & Terrier, Camille & Ventura, Guglielmo, 2020. "Closing the Gap between Vocational and General Education? Evidence from University Technical Colleges in England," IZA Discussion Papers 13837, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Patrick Bennett, 2021. "The Work-To-School Transitions:Job Displacement and Skill Upgrading among Young High School Dropouts," Working Papers 202205, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    12. John A. List, 2020. "Non est Disputandum de Generalizability? A Glimpse into The External Validity Trial," NBER Working Papers 27535, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes & Guglielmo Ventura, 2022. "On Track to Success? Returns to Vocational Education Against Different Alternatives," CEPA Discussion Papers 58, Center for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Bellés Obrero, Cristina & Duchini, Emma, 2020. "Who Benefits from General Knowledge?," IZA Discussion Papers 12995, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Dahl, Gordon B. & Rooth, Dan-Olof & Stenberg, Anders, 2020. "Long-Run Returns to Field of Study in Secondary School," IZA Discussion Papers 13508, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Berggren, Andrea & Jeppsson, Louise, 2021. "The Impact of Upper Secondary School Flexibility on Sorting and Educational Outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    17. Eleanor Wiske Dillon, 2020. "Comment on Education and Innovation," NBER Chapters, in: The Role of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Economic Growth, pages 551-557, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Thomas Buser & Noemi Peter & Stefan C. Wolter, 2022. "Willingness to compete, gender and career choices along the whole ability distribution," Experimental Economics, Springer;Economic Science Association, vol. 25(5), pages 1299-1326, November.
    19. Gordon Dahl & Dan-Olof Rooth & Anders Stenberg, 2020. "High School Majors, Comparative (Dis)Advantage, and Future Earnings," NBER Working Papers 27524, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Mikko Silliman & Hanna Virtanen, 2022. "Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 197-224, January.
    21. Bellés-Obrero, Cristina & Duchini, Emma, 2021. "Who benefits from general knowledge?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    22. Ariel J. Binder & Amanda Eng & Kendall Houghton & Andrew Foote, 2023. "The Gender Pay Gap and its Determinants across the Human Capital Distribution," Working Papers 23-31, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    23. Manudeep Bhuller & Philipp Eisenhauer & Moritz Mendel, 2022. "Sequential Choices, Option Values, and the Returns to Education," Papers 2205.05444, arXiv.org.
    24. Amy Finkelstein & Nathaniel Hendren, 2020. "Welfare Analysis Meets Causal Inference," NBER Working Papers 27640, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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