The decision to pursue formal education has significant labor market implications. To approach the decision rationally, a student must consider the costs and benefits of each available option. However, mounting empirical evidence suggests that reported expectations of costs and benefits are uncertain and vary across students. Hastings et al.…

In this dissertation, I present three distinct topics on labor economics that can be read independently from one another. In the first chapter, using matched mother-child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, I investigate the impact of mothers' involuntary job loss on children's academic achievement. In the next chapter, I examine…

Today, more than 60 percent of teachers in the United States work under a union contract. The rights of teachers to unionize and bargain together have expanded dramatically since the late 1950s, when states began passing "duty-to-bargain" (DTB) laws that required school districts to negotiate with teachers unions in good faith. Recently,…

The European labour market is challenged by changes in the demographic composition of the labour force and increasing work complexities and processes. Skills forecasting makes useful contribution to decisions by policy-makers, experts and individuals. In this publication, Cedefop presents the latest results of skills supply and demand forecasts.…

It is well established that workers with more years of education earn higher wages. By establishing a reference or "required" level of education for a worker's occupation, it is possible to decompose an individual's actual level of education into years of required education and years of over-education or under-education relative to that…

Governors plays a central role in ensuring that public educational institutions provide students with the knowledge and abilities required for a successful life and career. The systemic use of data from education and labor markets informs governors and other policymakers of the effectiveness and efficiency of their existing postsecondary systems…

This paper aims to develop a better understanding about the labour market dynamics behind the unparalleled demand in higher education and dragging growth rates in vocational high school (VHS) education in Turkey. While estimating labour market outcomes of fields of study has been the subject of many studies in the West, such studies are lacking in…

This analysis uses March Current Population Survey data from 1999 to 2010 and a differences-in-differences approach to examine how California's first in the nation paid family leave (PFL) program affected leave-taking by mothers following childbirth, as well as subsequent labor market outcomes. We obtain robust evidence that the California program…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the status of recent Korean four-year college students' acquisition of vocational qualification certificates (hereinafter "certificates" or "qualifications"), the factors that influence certificate acquisition, and the resulting employment and wage effects.…

Obtaining a tertiary degree no longer guarantees entry to the best occupational positions in today's labour market. Success is no longer about "more" education, but about "better" education for university graduates. This study aims to understand whether university prestige in Korea accounts for occupational outcomes in both…

A landmark new study reported that upward mobility in the Keystone State since the late 1990s exceeded that in most parts of the United States. This report, focused on more recent trends, contains some bad economic news. It shows that Pennsylvania's economy has performed poorly from the perspective of typical working families since the end of…

Post-baccalaureate education has emerged as one of the fastest growing segments of higher education. Over the past decade, master's degree enrollment in the U.S. has grown 35%--and the share of adults that hold a master's degree has gone from less than 7% to nearly 9% of the population. Keeping the supply and demand dynamics of basic economic…

These appendices accompany the full report that summarizes the implementation and evaluation of the Accelerating Connections to Employment (ACE) program. The ACE program model is designed to improve employment and employment-related outcomes for low-skilled workers through formal partnerships between Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and…

This study investigates the incidence of over-education amongst recent Australian bachelor degree graduates and its effect on their earnings. We find that between 24% and 37% of graduates were over-educated shortly after course completion, with over-education most common amongst young females and least common amongst older females. Over-education…

Many students do not complete full qualifications in the vocational education and training (VET) system because their intention is to obtain only the particular skills they require. This can be achieved through the acquisition of skill sets; these enable flexibility in training to quickly respond to changes in the labour market. Skill sets may…