Can policymakers hire more effective teachers by increasing the relative economic benefits of teaching? We investigate this question by exploiting business cycle conditions at career start as a source of exogenous variation in the outside labor market opportunities of potential teachers. Using...

Using individual-level panel data from European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (2007-2010) we explore to what extend wage differentials across European countries are explained by differences in education, actual experience and health. The human capital literature suggests an...

We assess the relevance of formal education on the productivity of the self-employed and distinguish between opportunity entrepreneurs, who voluntarily pursue a business opportunity, and necessity entrepreneurs, who lack alternative employment options. We expect differences in the returns to...

Political regimes influence the contents of education and the criteria used to select and evaluate students. We study the impact of a socialist education on the likelihood of obtaining a college degree, as well as on several labor market outcomes, by exploiting the reorganization of the school...

The new training literature suggests that in a monopsonistic market employers will not only pay for firm-specific training but also for general training if the risk of poaching is limited. This implies that training participation should decrease when competition for employees is higher among...

This paper examines the role of the sociocultural background of students as measured by both religious denomination and political attitudes towards gender equality and science-related issues in their home environment for choosing STEM fields in university. Our empirical estimates are based on a...

Policy debates about the balance of vocational and general education programs focus on the school-to-work transition. But with rapid technological change, gains in youth employment from vocational education may be offset by less adaptability and thus diminished employment later in life. To test...

This paper estimates the effect of Additional Career Assistance (ACA) on educational outcomes for students in Lower Track Secondary Schools (LTSS) for the area of Freiburg (Germany). The analysis uses individual data during the late 2000's on grades in LTSS and educational outcomes after leaving...

This paper analyzes educational pathways of West German birth cohorts 1957 to 1986. We use a new data set including survey data with detailed information on educational biographies linked to administrative social security records. We find a strong expansion of higher secondary school degrees...

The study aims to analyze the modalities of vocational training in rural areas in order to identify systematic contents that are relevant to define the perception of the general role of continuing vocational training in the economic and social development of rural areas, the functions of...