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Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education

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  • Silliman, Mikko
  • Virtanen, Hanna

Abstract

We study labor-market returns to vocational versus general secondary education using a regression discontinuity design created by the centralized admissions process in Finland. Admission to the vocational track increases annual income by 7 percent at age 31, and the benefits show no signs of diminishing with time. Moreover, admission to the vocational track does not increase the likelihood of working in jobs at risk of replacement by automation or offshoring. Consistent with the notion of comparative advantage, we observe significantly larger returns for people who express a preference for vocational education in their applications to secondary school.

Suggested Citation

  • Silliman, Mikko & Virtanen, Hanna, 2019. "Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education," ETLA Working Papers 65, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    • Handle: RePEc:rif:wpaper:65
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Ollikainen, Jani-Petteri, 2021. "Comprehensive school reform and labor market outcomes over the lifecycle: Evidence from Finland," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    2. Aghion, Philippe & Bergeaud, Antonin & Blundell, Richard & Griffith, Rachel, 2023. "Social Skills and the Individual Wage Growth of Less Educated Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 16456, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Leighton, Margaret & Speer, Jamin D., 2020. "Labor market returns to college major specificity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    4. 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.
    5. Simona Lorena Comi & Mara Grasseni & Federica Origo, 2022. "Sometimes it works: the effect of a reform of the short vocational track on school-to-work transition," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 43(7), pages 1601-1619, April.
    6. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    7. Bellés-Obrero, Cristina & Duchini, Emma, 2021. "Who benefits from general knowledge?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    8. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Adriana D. Kugler & Mikko I. Silliman, 2021. "Job Training Through Turmoil," NBER Working Papers 29565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Returns to education; Vocational education; Technological change; Application preferences; Regression discontinuity; Field of study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • 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
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality

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