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Labor Market Effects of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs : Lessons from Colombia

Author

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  • Ferreyra,Maria Marta
  • Galindo,Camila
  • Urzúa,Sergio

Abstract

This paper estimates the heterogeneous labor market effects of enrolling in higher education short-cycle (SC) programs. Expanding access to these programs might affect the behavior of some students (compliers) in two margins: the expansion margin (students who would not have enrolled in higher education otherwise) and the diversion margin (students who would have enrolled in bachelor's programs otherwise). To quantify these responses, we exploit local exogenous variation in the supply of higher education institutions (HEIs) facing Colombian high school graduates in an empirical multinomial choice model with several instruments. According to our findings, the presence of at least one HEI specialized in SC programs in the vicinity of the student's high school municipality increases SC enrollment by 3.7-4.5 percentage points (40-50% of the SC enrollment rate). The diversion margin largely drives this effect. For female compliers, enrollment in SC programs increases formal employment relative to the next-best alternative. For male compliers, in contrast, it lowers formal employment and wages. These results should alert policymakers of the unexpected consequences of higher education expansionary policies.
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  • Ferreyra,Maria Marta & Galindo,Camila & Urzúa,Sergio, 2021. "Labor Market Effects of Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs : Lessons from Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9717, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9717
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Fusejima, Koki, 2024. "Identification of multi-valued treatment effects with unobserved heterogeneity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 238(1).
    3. Dai, Li & Martins, Pedro S., 2024. "The Wage Effects of Polytechnic Degrees: Evidence from the 1999 China Higher Education Expansion," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1399, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Kemper, Johanna & Renold, Ursula, 2024. "Evaluating the impact of general versus vocational education on labor market outcomes in Egypt by means of a regression discontinuity design," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    5. Juan Esteban Carranza & María Marta Ferreyra & Ana Maria Gazmuri, 2023. "The Dynamic Market for Short-Cycle Higher Education Programs," Borradores de Economia 1265, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    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

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