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A tale of two trade-offs: Effects of opening pathways from vocational to higher education

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  • Ollikainen, Jani-Petteri
  • Karhunen, Hannu

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of a vocational secondary school reform implemented in Finland between 1999 and 2001. The reform extended vocational two-year programs to three years and made all graduates eligible to apply for university. For identification, we exploit the gradual implementation of the reform, and use a differences-in-differences approach and administrative register data up to 13 years after the reform. We find no long-term effect on enrollment in further education or labor market outcomes. However, our results illustrate that the reform increased the dropout probability. Thus, the benefits of opening pathways from vocational to higher education may be outweighed by the cost of a more demanding curriculum.

Suggested Citation

  • Ollikainen, Jani-Petteri & Karhunen, Hannu, 2021. "A tale of two trade-offs: Effects of opening pathways from vocational to higher education," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:205:y:2021:i:c:s0165176521002226
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2021.109945
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marianne Bertrand & Magne Mogstad & Jack Mountjoy, 2021. "Improving Educational Pathways to Social Mobility: Evidence from Norway’s Reform 94," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(4), pages 965-1010.
    2. Eric A. Hanushek & Guido Schwerdt & Ludger Woessmann & Lei Zhang, 2017. "General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Lifecycle," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 52(1), pages 48-87.
    3. Oosterbeek, Hessel & Webbink, Dinand, 2007. "Wage effects of an extra year of basic vocational education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 408-419, August.
    4. Caroline Hall, 2012. "The Effects of Reducing Tracking in Upper Secondary School: Evidence from a Large-Scale Pilot Scheme," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 47(1), pages 237-269.
    5. Zilic, Ivan, 2018. "General versus vocational education: Lessons from a quasi-experiment in Croatia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Dirk Krueger & Krishna B. Kumar, 2004. "Skill-Specific rather than General Education: A Reason for US--Europe Growth Differences?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 9(2), pages 167-207, June.
    7. Florentino Felgueroso & Maria Gutiérrez-Domènech & Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2014. "Dropout trends and educational reforms: the role of the LOGSE in Spain," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-24, December.
    8. Hall, Caroline, 2016. "Does more general education reduce the risk of future unemployment? Evidence from an expansion of vocational upper secondary education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 251-271.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yue Chen & Yuantao Jiang & Aibing Zheng & Yunzhu Yue & Zhi-Hua Hu, 2023. "What Research Should Vocational Education Colleges Conduct? An Empirical Study Using Data Envelopment Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-18, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Vocational education; Reform; Dropout; Difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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