The Employment–Education Trade-off in School-Based Vocational Education: Evidence from Peers’ Choices

Pedro Martins, Pedro Luis Silva (), Madalena Temudo () and Ana Pinho ()
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Pedro Luis Silva: Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain & CIPES & IZA@LISER
Madalena Temudo: Nova School of Business and Economics, Portugal
Ana Pinho: Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies (CIPES), Portugal

Working Papers from Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona

Abstract: Vocational education and training (VET) may accelerate employment transitions at the cost of reducing further education participation. We quantify this trade-off in a school-based VET system, drawing on linked administrative and survey data in Portugal. We use the share of lower-secondary classmates who subsequently choose upper-secondary VET as an instrument for individual VET enrollment. We find a pronounced trade-off in early post-school transitions: vocational enrollment increases employment by 26-34 percentage points and improves several job quality indicators; however, VET reduces further education participation by 30-40 percentage points and is associated with higher unemployment.

Keywords: school-based vocational education; peer choices; school-to-work transition; NEET; job quality. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 77 pages
Date: 2026-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-lma
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