Early tracking, academic vs. vocational training, and the value of ‘second-chance’ options

Abstract

This paper estimates a dynamic heterogenous reatment effects model to examine educational transitions and expected returns in the German education system which is characterized by pronounced early tracking but with options to revise track choices at later stages. We study the value of such options and the extent to which they correct initial ‘misplacement’. We find that the value of second-chance options is large but heterogenous. They are more valuable for high-ability individuals and individuals from better parental backgrounds who are better able to exploit the possibilities opened up by them at later stages of the system. Our findings suggest that second-chance options correct earlier “misplacement” only to a moderate extent. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational training second-chance education Educational expansion Heterogeneous returns

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

School of Economics, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tubingen, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany

Funding & Acknowledgements

Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, BMBF

Funding text 1: We would like to thank the editor, Michele Pellizzari, two anonymous referees, Bernhard Boockmann, Joachim Grammig, Steffen Hillmert, Aderonke Osikominu, Gregor Pfeiffer, Winfried Pohlmeier, Nicole Tieben, Ulrich Trautwein, Rolf van der Velden, Katharina Webling, Stefan Wolter as well as seminar participants at ROA Maastricht, ESPE 2017, EEA-ESEM 2017, EALE 2017, the LEAD spring retreat 2017, the IAW Conference ‘Education, Skills, and the Economic Challenges of the Future’ and the Annual Meeting of the Verein fur Socialpolitik 2018 for many useful comments and suggestions. This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 6 - Adults, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:3.0.1. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data were collected as part of the Framework Programme for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, the NEPS survey is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.; Funding text 2: We would like to thank the editor, Michele Pellizzari, two anonymous referees, Bernhard Boockmann, Joachim Grammig, Steffen Hillmert, Aderonke Osikominu, Gregor Pfeiffer, Winfried Pohlmeier, Nicole Tieben, Ulrich Trautwein, Rolf van der Velden, Katharina Webling, Stefan Wolter as well as seminar participants at ROA Maastricht, ESPE 2017, EEA-ESEM 2017, EALE 2017, the LEAD spring retreat 2017, the IAW Conference ‘Education, Skills, and the Economic Challenges of the Future’ and the Annual Meeting of the Verein fur Socialpolitik 2018 for many useful comments and suggestions. This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 6 - Adults, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:3.0.1. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data were collected as part of the Framework Programme for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, the NEPS survey is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.

Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsverläufe, LIfBi

Funding text 1: We would like to thank the editor, Michele Pellizzari, two anonymous referees, Bernhard Boockmann, Joachim Grammig, Steffen Hillmert, Aderonke Osikominu, Gregor Pfeiffer, Winfried Pohlmeier, Nicole Tieben, Ulrich Trautwein, Rolf van der Velden, Katharina Webling, Stefan Wolter as well as seminar participants at ROA Maastricht, ESPE 2017, EEA-ESEM 2017, EALE 2017, the LEAD spring retreat 2017, the IAW Conference ‘Education, Skills, and the Economic Challenges of the Future’ and the Annual Meeting of the Verein fur Socialpolitik 2018 for many useful comments and suggestions. This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 6 - Adults, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:3.0.1. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data were collected as part of the Framework Programme for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, the NEPS survey is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.; Funding text 2: We would like to thank the editor, Michele Pellizzari, two anonymous referees, Bernhard Boockmann, Joachim Grammig, Steffen Hillmert, Aderonke Osikominu, Gregor Pfeiffer, Winfried Pohlmeier, Nicole Tieben, Ulrich Trautwein, Rolf van der Velden, Katharina Webling, Stefan Wolter as well as seminar participants at ROA Maastricht, ESPE 2017, EEA-ESEM 2017, EALE 2017, the LEAD spring retreat 2017, the IAW Conference ‘Education, Skills, and the Economic Challenges of the Future’ and the Annual Meeting of the Verein fur Socialpolitik 2018 for many useful comments and suggestions. This paper uses data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): Starting Cohort 6 - Adults, doi:10.5157/NEPS:SC6:3.0.1. From 2008 to 2013, NEPS data were collected as part of the Framework Programme for the Promotion of Empirical Educational Research funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). As of 2014, the NEPS survey is carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi) at the University of Bamberg in cooperation with a nationwide network.

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Early tracking, academic vs. vocational training, and the value of ‘second-chance’ options

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