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Vocational Training, Educational Attainment, and Inequality: Evidence from a Nationwide Expansion

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  • Ferreira, João R.
  • Martins, Pedro S.

Abstract

We evaluate the impact of vocational education and training (VET) in a setting with high dropout rates and socio-economic inequality in educational attainment. We estimate that the introduction of VET courses across public upper secondary schools in Portugal was associated with a 2.7 percentage points increase in on-time graduation rates (6% of the baseline rate). Our identification strategy exploits the staggered introduction of the VET track, which created quasi-experimental variation in the local availability of VET across school districts and cohorts. Drawing on a comprehensive student-school matched panel spanning 2006-2017, we implement an event-study design and three complementary IV strategies. We find substantial positive effects of VET take-up on graduation rates, especially among previously low-achieving and socio-economically disadvantaged students.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferreira, João R. & Martins, Pedro S., 2026. "Vocational Training, Educational Attainment, and Inequality: Evidence from a Nationwide Expansion," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1810, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:glodps:1810
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedro S. Martins & Pedro Luis Silva & Madalena Temudo & Ana Pinho, 2026. "The Employment–Education Trade-off in School-Based Vocational Education: Evidence from Peers’ Choices," Working Papers wpdea2608, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • 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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