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Year 12 Completion and Retention in Australia in the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • Chris Ryan

    (The Australian National University)

  • Louise Watson

    (University of Canberra)

Abstract

This paper analyses high school completion rates, known as ‘apparent retention rates’ in Australia, from 1989 to 2002. Unlike most measures of educational attainment or participation in Australia, the apparent retention rate was lower at the end of the 1990s than it had been in the early 1990s. We adjust ‘official’ retention rates directly and with the aid of regression equation parameters to remedy a number of well-known deficiencies in their measurement, notably Year 12 repetition and migration. The path followed by our adjusted retention measure during the 1990s departs substantially from that of the ‘official’ estimates. We conclude that the apparent retention rate was an especially poor measure of national school completion in the early 1990s, when it peaked. Unlike those ‘official’ estimates, the adjusted measure of Year 12 retention was no lower in the late 1990s than it had been in the early 1990s.

Suggested Citation

  • Chris Ryan & Louise Watson, 2004. "Year 12 Completion and Retention in Australia in the 1990s," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 7(4), pages 481-500, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ozl:journl:v:7:y:2004:i:4:p:481-500
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kevin Lang & David Kropp, 1986. "Human Capital Versus Sorting: The Effects of Compulsory Attendance Laws," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(3), pages 609-624.
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    1. repec:rnp:ppaper:nvg138 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Thorsten Stromback, 2010. "Earnings, Schooling and Vocational Education and Training," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 13(3), pages 241-263.
    3. Andrew Leigh & Chris Ryan, 2011. "Long-Run Trends in School Productivity: Evidence from Australia," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 105-135, January.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of 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

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