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Postsecondary Education in Canada: Returns to University, College and Trades Education

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  • Daniel Boothby
  • Torben Drewes

Abstract

By international standards, the level of educational attainment in Canada is exceptionally high, with the proportion of adult Canadians holding postsecondary educational certificates being more than twice the OECD average. This remarkable ranking is primarily the result of high participation in non-university postsecondary educational sectors: colleges, trades institutions, and other vocational educators. While the non-university postsecondary education (PSE) sector is clearly important in terms of both the quantity and the qualitative nature of human capital it produces, it has received very little attention in the academic literature , which has tended to focus on the outcomes of university graduates. This paper uses Census data from 1980 to 2000 to examine the evolution of the earnings premia to university, college, and trades educat i o n over a 20-year period of rapid economic change. Examining this evolution is a prerequisite to understanding the behaviour of participation in the various postsecondary education streams and to the appropriate conduct of educational and labour market policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Boothby & Torben Drewes, 2006. "Postsecondary Education in Canada: Returns to University, College and Trades Education," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 32(1), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:32:y:2006:i:1:p:1-22
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Card & Thomas Lemieux, 2001. "Can Falling Supply Explain the Rising Return to College for Younger Men? A Cohort-Based Analysis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 705-746.
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    5. Jacob A. Mincer, 1974. "Schooling and Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Schooling, Experience, and Earnings, pages 41-63, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunderson, Morley & Krashinsky, Harry, 2009. "Do Education Decisions Respond to Returns by Field of Study?," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-62, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 28 Nov 2009.
    2. John B. Burbidge & Kirk A. Collins & James B. Davies & Lonnie Magee, 2012. "Effective tax and subsidy rates on human capital in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(1), pages 189-219, February.
    3. Emanuelle Bourbeau & Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2011. "Provincial Returns to Education for 21 to 35 year-olds: Results from the 1991-2006 Canadian Analytic Censuses Files," Cahiers de recherche 1106, CIRPEE.
    4. Boothby, Daniel & Drewes, Torben, 2010. "Returns to Apprenticeship in Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2010-36, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 28 Dec 2010.
    5. Vincenzo Caponi & Miana Plesca, 2009. "Post-secondary education in Canada: can ability bias explain the earnings gap between college and university graduates?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(3), pages 1100-1131, August.
    6. repec:rre:publsh:v:36:y:2006:i:2:p:239-53 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Kopatz, Susanne & Pilz, Matthias, 2015. "The Academic Takes it All? A Comparison of Returns to Investment in Education between Graduates and Apprentices in Canada," International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training (IJRVET), European Research Network in Vocational Education and Training (VETNET), European Educational Research Association, vol. 2(4), pages 308-325.
    8. Sen, Anindya & Clemente, Anthony, 2010. "Intergenerational correlations in educational attainment: Birth order and family size effects using Canadian data," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 147-155, February.
    9. Celeste K. Carruthers & Christopher Jepsen, 2020. "Vocational Education: An International Perspective," CESifo Working Paper Series 8718, CESifo.
    10. Laura Wright, 2019. "Union Transitions and Fertility Within First Premarital Cohabitations in Canada: Diverging Patterns by Education?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 151-167, February.
    11. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2010. "Labour Outcomes of Graduates and Dropouts of High School and Post-secondary Education: Evidence for Canadian 24- to 26-year-olds in 2005," Cahiers de recherche 1045, CIRPEE.
    12. Iván Bornacelly, 2013. "Educación técnica y tecnológica para la reducción de la desigualdad salarial y la pobreza," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, June.
    13. Janzen, Katrin & Panitz, Robert & Glückler, Johannes, 2022. "Education premium and the compound impact of universities on their regional economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).

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