Technical Education, Non-cognitive Skills and Labor Market Outcomes: Experimental Evidence from Brazil

Camargo Juliana (), Lima Lycia (), Riva Flavio () and André Souza
Additional contact information
Camargo Juliana: Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results, Brazil and Lusophone Africa, Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV EESP Clear), 286, Itapeva Street, São Paulo, SP, 01332-000, Brazil.
Lima Lycia: School of Business Administration, Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV EAESP) and Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results, Brazil and Lusophone Africa, Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV EESP Clear), 286, Itapeva Street, São Paulo, SP, 01332-000, Brazil.
Riva Flavio: School of Business Administration, Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV EAESP), 286, Itapeva Street, São Paulo, SP, 01332-000, Brazil.

IZA Journal of Labor Economics, 2021, vol. 10, issue 1, 34

Abstract: This paper describes the results from an evaluation of a public policy that offers scholarships to current and former public high school students, so that they can attend technical and vocational education courses free of charge. We use a waiting list randomized controlled trial in four municipalities in a southern Brazilian State (Santa Catarina) to quantify the effects of the program on school progression, labor market outcomes and non-cognitive skills. Our intention-to-treat estimates reveal substantial gender heterogeneity two years after program completion. Women experienced large gains in labor market outcomes and non-cognitive skills. Employment rose by 21 percentage points (or approximately 33%) and the gains in earnings are of more than 50%. Also, women who received the offer scored 0.5σ higher on the synthetic index of non-cognitive skills and 0.69σ higher on an extraversion indicator. We find no effects on the male sub-sample. These findings corroborate the evidence on gender heterogeneity in the labor market effects of technical and vocational education programs. We also perform a series of exercises to explore potential channels through which these effects arise.

Keywords: Vocational Education; Human Capital; Non-cognitive Skills; Labor Market Outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 I38 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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https://doi.org/10.2478/izajole-2021-0002 (text/html)

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Working Paper: Technical education, noncognitive skills and labor market outcomes: experimental evidence from Brazil (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:izajle:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:1-34:n:2

DOI: 10.2478/izajole-2021-0002

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