Vocational education and productivity: A case study of the Beijing General Auto Industry Company

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Abstract

This paper examines the economic rationale for the current vocationalization of secondary education in China by comparing the performance of vocational education graduates and general education graduates in the workplace. It uses a model that recognizes the importance of work effort and group dynamics on production, employs a more direct measure of productivity, and presents an empirical study in the context of the current educational and workplace reforms in China. Based on data from the Beijing Auto Industry Company, China, the study finds that vocational-technical education graduates engaged in factory work relevant to their previous training were more satisfied with their job and were more productive than general education graduates. It also found that a worker's education had a lesser impact on productivity when the worker performed in a more co-operative environment.

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      In addition, sending children to TVE schools can serve as the last resort for families with limited financial resource because TVE students graduate sooner and are more work-ready than their counterparts from academic schools (Velde, 2009; Hansen and Woronov, 2013). The proponents of secondary TVE argue that TVE prepares students both technologically and mentally for direct employment and therefore make them more productive than academic students (Brunello and Giannini, 2004; Min and Tsang, 1990). In contrast, others demonstrate that countries in favor of vocational education adopt new technology more slowly than those in favor of concept-based or academic education (Krueger and Kumar, 2004).

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