Safety valve or sinkhole? Vocational schooling in South Africa

IZA Journal of Labor & Development

Table A2 Enrollment response to program-specific grade failure and previous employment, by program type

Program type	Academic		Vocational		Differences
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(3)-(1)	(4)-(2)
Failed last academic grade enrolled	-0.40	-0.40	0.000	0.000	***	***
	(0.01)***	(0.01)***	(0.004)	(0.004)
Previous academic grades failed	-0.18	-0.18	0.01	0.01	***	***
	(0.01)***	(0.01)***	(0.004)**	(0.004)*
Failed last vocational grade enrolled	-0.09	-0.08	-0.17	-0.17
	(0.04)**	(0.04)**	(0.04)***	(0.04)***
Previous vocational grades failed	-0.02	-0.01	-0.03	-0.03
	(0.03)	(0.03)	(0.08)	(0.08)
Not employed last period		0.06		0.02		***
		(0.01)***		(0.004)***
Observations	23,997	23,997	23,997	23,997
R-squared	0.70	0.70	0.27	0.27
No. individuals	2,927	2,927	2,927	2,927
Includes work experience		x		x

Robust standard errors in parentheses, clustered by individual. *significant at 10%; **significant at 5%; ***significant at 1%. Sample is person-years from estimation sample described in Appendix A Data definitions, with completed education 9 years or more, from CAPS life history panel. Excludes person-years corresponding to Wave 5 for which fraudulent fieldwork suspected. All regressions are survey-weighted linear probability models that include individual fixed effects and age, completed schooling, and calendar year dummies. Work experience variables include dummy for non-employment in last period of non-enrollment and cumulative work experience. Vocational programs include technical colleges, NTC and universities of technology.