IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ieb/wpaper/doc2018-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The unequal opportunity for skills acquisition during the Great Recession in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Sara Ayllón

    (Universitat de Girona)

  • Natalia Nollenberger

    (IE Business School - IE University)

Abstract

This paper is the first to investigate the extent to which the high levels of jobless-ness resulting from the Great Recession across Europe have translated into higher school attendance among youth. Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from the EU-SILC for 28 countries, we establish a robust counter-cyclical relationship between rising unemployment rates and school enrolment. The same is true of transitions back to education. Our analysis by subgroups reveals a worrying trend, with youths who have the most disadvantaged backgrounds (measured by low household income) less likely to enrol in tertiary studies when unemployment rises.

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Ayllón & Natalia Nollenberger, 2018. "The unequal opportunity for skills acquisition during the Great Recession in Europe," Working Papers 2018/13, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    • Handle: RePEc:ieb:wpaper:doc2018-13
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://ieb.ub.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-IEB-WorkingPaper-13.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Emilia Bono & Andrea Weber & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2015. "Fertility and economic instability: the role of unemployment and job displacement," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(2), pages 463-478, April.
    2. José De Gregorio & Jong–Wha Lee, 2002. "Education and Income Inequality: New Evidence From Cross‐Country Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 48(3), pages 395-416, September.
    3. Emilia Del Bono & Andrea Weber & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2012. "Clash Of Career And Family: Fertility Decisions After Job Displacement," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 659-683, August.
    4. Valero, Anna & Van Reenen, John, 2019. "The economic impact of universities: Evidence from across the globe," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 53-67.
    5. Terry Long, B.Bridget, 2004. "How have college decisions changed over time? An application of the conditional logistic choice model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 121(1-2), pages 271-296.
    6. Norbert R. Schady, 2004. "Do Macroeconomic Crises Always Slow Human Capital Accumulation?," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 18(2), pages 131-154.
    7. Yuji Genda & Ayako Kondo & Souichi Ohta, 2010. "Long-Term Effects of a Recession at Labor Market Entry in Japan and the United States," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(1).
    8. Jordan D. Matsudaira, 2016. "Economic conditions and the living arrangements of young adults: 1960 to 2011," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 167-195, January.
    9. Diana Alessandrini & Stephen Kosempel & Thanasis Stengos, 2012. "The Business Cycle Human Capital Accumulation Nexus and its Effect on Labor Supply Volatility," Working Paper series 62_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    10. Julian R. Betts & Laurel L. McFarland, 1995. "Safe Port in a Storm: The Impact of Labor Market Conditions on Community College Enrollments," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(4), pages 741-765.
    11. Harris Dellas & Plutarchos Sakellaris, 2003. "On the cyclicality of schooling: theory and evidence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 148-172, January.
    12. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    13. Mathilde Gaini & Aude Leduc & Augustin Vicard, 2013. "School as a Shelter? School Leaving-Age and the Business Cycle in France," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 111-112, pages 251-270.
    14. Sakellaris, Plutarchos & Spilimbergo, Antonio, 2000. "Business cycles and investment in human capital: international evidence on higher education," Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 221-256, June.
    15. Sascha Becker & Samuel Bentolila & Ana Fernandes & Andrea Ichino, 2010. "Youth emancipation and perceived job insecurity of parents and children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 23(3), pages 1047-1071, June.
    16. King, Ian & Sweetman, Arthur, 2002. "Procyclical Skill Retooling and Equilibrium," Working Papers 162, Department of Economics, The University of Auckland.
    17. Jeremy Arkes, 2007. "Does the economy affect teenage substance use?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 19-36, January.
    18. Lynn, Peter & Iacovou, Maria, 2013. "Implications of the EU-SILC following rules, and their implementation, for longitudinal analysis," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-17, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    19. David N. DeJong & Beth F. Ingram, 2001. "The Cyclical Behavior of Skill Acquisition," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 4(3), pages 536-561, July.
    20. Michael S. Christian, 2007. "Liquidity constraints and the cyclicality of college enrollment in the United States," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 59(1), pages 141-169, January.
    21. Olga Cantó & David O. Ruiz, 2015. "The Contribution of Income Mobility to Economic Insecurity in the US and Spain during the Great Recession," Research on Economic Inequality, in: Measurement of Poverty, Deprivation, and Economic Mobility, volume 23, pages 109-152, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    22. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    23. Damon Clark, 2011. "Do Recessions Keep Students in School? The Impact of Youth Unemployment on Enrolment in Post‐compulsory Education in England," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 78(311), pages 523-545, July.
    24. Dellas, Harris & Koubi, Vally, 2003. "Business cycles and schooling," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 843-859, November.
    25. Kane, Thomas J, 1994. "College Entry by Blacks since 1970: The Role of College Costs, Family Background, and the Returns to Education," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(5), pages 878-911, October.
    26. Jonathan Gruber, 2001. "Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number grub01-1, March.
    27. Ian King & Arthur Sweetman, 2002. "Procyclical Skill Retooling and Equilibrium Search," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 5(3), pages 704-717, July.
    28. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2001. "Dropout and Enrollment Trends in the Postwar Period: What Went Wrong in the 1970s?," NBER Chapters, in: Risky Behavior among Youths: An Economic Analysis, pages 439-482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    29. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck75-1, March.
    30. Lindo, Jason M., 2015. "Aggregation and the estimated effects of economic conditions on health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 83-96.
    31. Jordan Matsudaira, 2016. "Economic conditions and the living arrangements of young adults: 1960 to 2011," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 167-195, January.
    32. Sara Ayllón, 2019. "Job insecurity and fertility in Europe," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1321-1347, December.
    33. Brown, Jeffrey R. & Hoxby, Caroline M. (ed.), 2015. "How the Financial Crisis and Great Recession Affected Higher Education," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226201832, December.
    34. Mattila, J Peter, 1982. "Determinants of Male School Enrollments: A Time-Series Analysis," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 64(2), pages 242-251, May.
    35. Linda Nasif Edwards, 1976. "School Retention of Teenagers Over the Business Cycle," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 11(2), pages 200-208.
    36. Barr, Andrew & Turner, Sarah, 2015. "Out of work and into school: Labor market policies and college enrollment during the Great Recession," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 63-73.
    37. Alessandrini, Diana & Kosempel, Stephen & Stengos, Thanasis, 2015. "The business cycle human capital accumulation nexus and its effect on hours worked volatility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 356-377.
    38. Kodde, David A, 1986. "Uncertainty and the Demand for Education," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 68(3), pages 460-467, August.
    39. repec:adr:anecst:y:2013:i:111-112:p:10 is not listed on IDEAS
    40. Sara Rica & Amaia Iza, 2005. "Career Planning in Spain: Do Fixed-term Contracts Delay Marriage and Parenthood?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 49-73, November.
    41. Freddy Heylen & Lorenzo Pozzi, 2007. "Crises and human capital accumulation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 1261-1285, November.
    42. Mattila, J. Peter, 1982. "Determinants of Male School Enrollments, A Time-Series Analysis," Staff General Research Papers Archive 10849, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    43. Tumino, Alberto & P. Taylor, Mark, 2015. "The impact of local labour market conditions on school leaving decisions," ISER Working Paper Series 2015-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    44. David N. F. Bell & David G. Blanchflower, 2011. "Young people and the Great Recession," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 27(2), pages 241-267.
    45. Emmanuel Skoufias & Susan Parker, 2006. "Job loss and family adjustments in work and schooling during the Mexican peso crisis," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 19(1), pages 163-181, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Murat Demirci & Meltem Poyraz, 2021. "Post-Compulsory Schooling of Youth in Turkey during the Great Recession: A Case of Pro-cyclical Enrollment," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2117, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.

    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. Bonacini, Luca, 2020. "Unequal effects of the economic cycle on human capital investment. Evidence from Italian panel data," GLO Discussion Paper Series 733, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Diana Alessandrini & Stephen Kosempel & Thanasis Stengos, 2012. "The Business Cycle Human Capital Accumulation Nexus and its Effect on Labor Supply Volatility," Working Paper series 62_12, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    3. Diana Alessandrini, 2014. "On the Cyclicality of Schooling Decisions: Evidence from Canadian Data," Working Paper series 16_14, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis.
    4. Alessandrini, Diana & Kosempel, Stephen & Stengos, Thanasis, 2015. "The business cycle human capital accumulation nexus and its effect on hours worked volatility," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 356-377.
    5. Jennifer Graves & Zoë Kuehn, 2022. "Higher education decisions and macroeconomic conditions at age eighteen," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 13(1), pages 171-241, May.
    6. Sara Ayllón, 2019. "Job insecurity and fertility in Europe," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 1321-1347, December.
    7. Murat Demirci & Meltem Poyraz, 2021. "Post-Compulsory Schooling of Youth in Turkey during the Great Recession: A Case of Pro-cyclical Enrollment," Koç University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum Working Papers 2117, Koc University-TUSIAD Economic Research Forum.
    8. Alessandrini, Diana, 2018. "Is post-secondary education a safe port and for whom? Evidence from Canadian data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1-13.
    9. Fraser Summerfield & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2017. "The Effects Of Macroeconomic Conditions At Graduation On Overeducation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1370-1387, July.
    10. Elizabeth B. Clelan & Michael S. Kofoed, 2017. "The Effect Of The Business Cycle On Freshman Financial Aid," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 35(2), pages 253-268, April.
    11. Fabio Méndez & Facundo Sepúlveda, 2012. "The Cyclicality of Skill Acquisition: Evidence from Panel Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 128-152, July.
    12. Franziska Hampf & Marc Piopiunik & Simon Wiederhold, 2020. "The Effects of Graduating from High School in a Recession: College Investments, Skill Formation, and Labor-Market Outcomes," CESifo Working Paper Series 8252, CESifo.
    13. Johnson, Matthew T., 2013. "The impact of business cycle fluctuations on graduate school enrollment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 122-134.
    14. Barbara Sadaba & Sunčica Vujič & Sofia Maier, 2020. "Cyclicality of Schooling: New Evidence from Unobserved Components Models," Staff Working Papers 20-38, Bank of Canada.
    15. Sara AYLLÓN & Xavier RAMOS, 2019. "Youth earnings and labour market volatility in Europe," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 158(1), pages 83-113, March.
    16. Clémentine Garrouste & Mathilde Godard, 2016. "The lasting health impact of leaving school in a bad economy : Britons in the 1970s recession," Post-Print hal-01408637, HAL.
    17. Petrongolo, Barbara & San Segundo, Maria J., 2002. "Staying-on at school at 16: the impact of labor market conditions in Spain," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 353-365, August.
    18. Bedard, Kelly & Herman, Douglas A., 2008. "Who goes to graduate/professional school? The importance of economic fluctuations, undergraduate field, and ability," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 197-210, April.
    19. Emanuela Ghignoni, 2015. "Family background and university dropouts during the crisis: the case of Italy," Working Papers in Public Economics 169, University of Rome La Sapienza, Department of Economics and Law.
    20. Clementine Garrouste & Mathilde Godard, 2016. "The Lasting Health Impact of Leaving School in a Bad Economy: Britons in the 1970s Recession," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 70-92, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Unemployment; School Enrolment; Transitions Back to Education; Youth; Great Recession; EU-SILC;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ieb:wpaper:doc2018-13. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iebubes.html .

    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.