Vocational education in Israel - Wage effects of the VocEd-occupation match

Citation
S. Neuman et A. Ziderman, Vocational education in Israel - Wage effects of the VocEd-occupation match, J HUM RES, 34(2), 1999, pp. 407-420
Citations number
7
Categorie Soggetti
Management
Journal title
JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES
ISSN journal
0022166X → ACNP
Volume
34
Issue
2
Year of publication
1999
Pages
407 - 420
Database
ISI
SICI code
0022-166X(199921)34:2<407:VEII-W>2.0.ZU;2-W
Abstract
In an earlier paper based on Israeli census data, the authors showed that v ocational school completers achieved higher earnings than their counter-par ts who attended academic secondary schools, but only if they worked in occu pations related to the vocational course of study pursued. These findings w ere challenged by Lawrence Hotchkiss; using U.S. follow-up data from the Hi gh School and Beyond survey, he argued that the wage advantage of vocationa l school completers working in related occupations stemmed from employment in a well-paid occupation (a possibility not examined in our earlier estima ting model) and was not the result of the training received. In this paper we replicate the U.S. study using our Israeli data base; the results strong ly confirm those from our earlier study. How may the contrasting results fo r Israel and the United States be explained? We suggest that the U.S. study may be faulted; its focus on young workers in their first job after gradua tion, may have led to unduly pessimistic results with regard to the labor m arket outcomes of vocational schooling.