High School Types, Academic Performance and Early Labour Market Outcomes

Abstract

Using microdata on the 1995 cohort of Italian high school graduates, this paper studies the\nrelationship between the type of high school attended (general versus technical; private\nversus public) and indicators of subsequent performance. Simultaneity issues that potentially\nbias this type of exercise are tackled by instrumental variables. Results indicate that the type\nof high school attended greatly depends upon the family of origin and prior school\nperformance. General high schools are found to increase the probability of transition to\nuniversity and to improve performance once at university. On the other hand, private high\nschools appear to be associated with lower academic performance. Technical schools\nimprove the quality of the school-to-work transition, both in terms of participation and\nemployment probabilities.