The Impact of Vocational Schooling on Human Capital Development in Developing Countries : Evidence from China

Loyalka, Prashant ; Huang, Xiaoting ; Zhang, Linxiu ; Wei, Jianguo ; Yi, Hongmei ; Song, Yingquan ; Shi, Yaojiang ; Chu, James

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: SKILLS;    STUDENT CHARACTERISTICS;    ACADEMIC SKILLS;    STUDENT SKILLS;    SCHOOL SYSTEM;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7396
RP-ID  :  WPS7396

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

A number of developing countries arecurrently promoting vocational education and training (VET)as a way to build human capital and strengthen economicgrowth. The primary aim of this study is to understandwhether VET at the high school level contributes to humancapital development in one of those countries—China. Tofulfill this aim, a longitudinal data on more than 10,000students in vocational high school (in the most popularmajor, computing) and academic high school from twoprovinces of China are used. First, estimates frominstrumental variables and matching analyses show thatattending vocational high school (relative to academic highschool) substantially reduces math skills and does notimprove computing skills. Second, heterogeneous effectestimates also show that attending vocational high schoolincreases dropout, especially among disadvantaged(low-income or low-ability) students. Third, verticallyscaled (equated) baseline and follow-up test scores are usedto measure gains in math and computing skills among thestudents. The results show that students who attendvocational high school experience absolute reductions inmath skills. Taken together, the findings suggest that therapid expansion of vocational schooling as a substitute foracademic schooling can have detrimental consequences forbuilding human capital in developing countries such as China.