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Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
Leading House « Economics of education »
« Transitions, skills and labour market »
Neuchâtel, October 20th - Leading House congress 2008
Jean-Marc Falter – Yves Flückiger
University of Geneva
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
Introduction Taking a labour market perspective, our Leading
House endeavours to analyze the determinants and the impact of vocational education in Switzerland
We cover three research themes: Transitions from school toward the labour market Workers’ skills Firms behaviour with respect to vocational
education and lifelong training
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
1. Research and network Leading House: people and institutions University of Geneva• Prof. Yves Flückiger: Director• Prof. Siegfried Hanhart• Dr. Jean-Marc Falter Geneva School of Business Administration• Prof. José Ramirez• Dr. Muriel Meunier
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
1. Research and network International network: tender offer• Primary goal: undertaking international
comparison on the transitions from upper secondary education to the labour market
• Other objectives: co-operation and co-written articles, workshops, exchange of doctoral students, intellectual spillovers.
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
1. Research and network International network: selected teams Prof. Christian Belzil (Ecole polytechnique,
France)• Studies on France and Germany• Originality of the research:
• France: unique database, high quality econometric model than can also be applied Swiss data
• Germany: the impact of risk on track choices Institute of education (University of London)
• Studies on the United Kingdom• Unique database with ability variables and comparison
between full-time and dual vocational education
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
1. Research and network Research network: partners Prof. Jacques Silber, Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv Prof. Saïd Hanchane, GREQAM, Université d’Aix-
Marseille Prof. Claude Montmarquette, Cirano, University
of Montreal Contacts, joint projects, expertise
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
2. Young researchers Current and past doctoral students Muriel Meunier (post-doc) : School efficiency in
Switzerland Cyril Pasche: Skills and the labour market Sylvain Weber: Human capital depreciation Helga Unterlechner: Firms’ behaviour to lifelong learning Other young researchers (not yet in a doctoral
program) Kirsten Sobeck: research assistance, “transitions” project Nicolas Müeller: transitions
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
2. Promotions of young researchers Support given to young researchers
• Stimulating research and teaching environment• Contacts with top researchers around the world• Practical and financial support for data
collection• Financial help to present their work in
international conferences• Post-doctoral positions
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
Probability of having a « good » level of basic skills (literacy and numeracy) by age and initial education (ALL)
Sources: Falter et Pasche (2007), Compétences, formation et marché du travail en Suisse, OFS.
0
.1
.2
.3
.4
20 30 40 50 60 70Age
Prof. initiale Prof. supérieureGén. sec. II Haute école
3. Research and pioneering resultsA. Research question: skills for life?
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsA. Human capital depreciation: is vocational
education too specific? The link between education and human capital is not
well established Which kind of workers face the greatest risks of
human capital depreciation on the labour market? Education has often been measured in years instead
of level We show that this approach is not satisfactory in the
Swiss case: the type of education matters more than its length
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsA. Human capital depreciation: is vocational
education too specific?
Comp
App
Prof
HSUpProf
ApUni
Uni
40000
50000
60000
70000
80000
90000
100000
110000
120000
Pre
dic
ted n
et in
com
e (
CH
F)
0 10 20 30 40 50
Experience (years)
Sources: Weber (2008), Estimating Human Capital Depreciation Rate : Some Evidence from Switzerland
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsB. School to work transitions: is vocational
education reducing inequality? Upper secondary school choices are driven by
various factors such as parental background and academic performances
Academic performances seem to be a poor indicator of track choices
Parental background are still an important factor shaping educational choices at age 15: what are the impact of intergenerational factors on inequality?
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering results
0.0
02
.004
.006
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Vocational
College bound
Pisa test scores, by educational choices
Sources: TREE, kernel estimates
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsB. School to work transitions: is vocational education
reducing inequality? Over time, the probability to choose vocational
education has remained stable, yet there is a shift in the population choosing this kind of education
Parental variables have a great impact on transitions to upper secondary education
Intergenerational factors are relatively independent from ability, especially for individuals with highly educated parents
Do these intergenerational effects shape educational and income inequality?
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsA. Transitions inside the schooling system and educational
inequality
Sources: Falter, Ferro Luzzi and Sbergami, 2008, “Intergenerational Links and Upper Secondary Track Choice : Pattern and Consequences”. Data: Swiss Household Panel
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsB. Transitions: summary of the findings
Parental background variables have a significant impact on transitions at age 15
However, possibility to pursue further education reduces the impact of parental background on educational inequality
The impact of parental background, through upper secondary education, on wages is relatively small in Switzerland compared to Germany
Current policies promoting tertiary vocational education seem to be effective at reducing inequalities
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
3. Research and pioneering resultsC. Economic policy importance of our findings
Further research is needed to make better sense of our results, for instance:
Wage profile of apprenticeship degree holder: disentangling between labour market behaviour, skill depreciation and human capital investment
Transitions: efficient sorting of individuals towards apprenticeship training?
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
4. Diffusion of the research We communicate our results through various
channels: Scientific community (internet, congress and
journals) Non-academic audience: conferences, practitioners Life-long training: organization of a round of
conferences on transitions (University of Geneva, 2008-2009)
Teaching of the economics of education (Master course, University of Geneva)
Medias
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
4. Diffusion of the research Potential for publications
Papers are in a normal reviewing process (conferences and peer-reviewed journal):
The focus on vocational education allows to better motivate paper on Switzerland
Data are not always competitive Tensions between academic goals and policy
oriented papers Both are important, but it requires different
publication strategies: Need to focus on policy oriented papers
summarizing the main results of the Leading House
Neuchâtel, October 20th 2008
5. Future prospects: transfer of knowledge Transfers of findings: the “experimental”
approach Transfer of findings relies mostly on the
diffusion of well-written policy oriented papers based on academic findings
An alternative approach could be to answer specific questions in an experimental framework:
Social experiment: impact of new policies (Geneva, “Prime aux formateurs”)
Behavioural experiment: students’ attitude (risk, effort, economic incentives)
IFFP could act as a partner as well as a principal