Learning the Right Skill
Vocational Curricula and Returns to Skills
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21557778 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Femke Cnossen (0000-0002-6578-9204), Matloob Piracha (0000-0003-0885-349X), Guy Tchuente (0000-0001-8507-3337) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 665-694 |
| Publication date | 2025-07-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Labor Economics (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0734-306X • E-ISSN: 1537-5307 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/730123 |
| OpenAlex | W4391886508 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 29 |
Using text data from curricula of the entire Dutch vocational education system, we extract verbs and nouns to measure basic cognitive and cross-functional skills, such as social, technical and resource management skills. This method allows us to uncover, at a fine-grained level, the skills middle-educated students learn at school. We then estimate the returns to these skills. Results show that resource management and social skills have the highest return. Importantly, the returns to skills are strongly conditional on sorting mechanisms. Our results fit in the literature that highlights the demand for complex interactive skills in environments that require more coordination
Curriculum · Economics · Labour economics · Pedagogy · Vocational education · Education Systems and Policy · Higher Education and Employability · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology
Heterogeneity in Human Capital Investments
The Polarization of the U.S. Labor Market
The Adjustment of Labor Markets to Robots
Explaining Job Polarization
The Growing Importance of Social Skills in the Labor Market
Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands
General Education, Vocational Education, and Labor-Market Outcomes over the Lifecycle
Skill Requirements across Firms and Labor Markets
Ability sorting and the returns to college major
The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change
Community College Program Choices in the Wake of Local Job Losses
Text as Data
Lousy and Lovely Jobs
General Education versus Vocational Training
Selection on Observed and Unobserved Variables
The Growth of Low-Skill Service Jobs and the Polarization of the US Labor Market
Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation
People Skills and the Labor-Market Outcomes of Underrepresented Groups
| Citations per year | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |