The Returns to Attending a Vocational Education School: Evidence from a RCT in Mongolia

Last registered on March 30, 2015

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The Returns to Attending a Vocational Education School: Evidence from a RCT in Mongolia

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0000637

Initial registration date

March 30, 2015

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

March 30, 2015, 5:38 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

Mongolia

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Leigh Linden

Affiliation

The University of Texas at Austin

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Erica Field

PI Affiliation

Duke University

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PI Name

Shing-Yi Wang

PI Affiliation

Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

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PI Name

Daniel Rubenson

PI Affiliation

Ryerson University

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PI Name

Linden Leigh

PI Affiliation

University of Texas at Austin

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Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2010-05-06

End date

2016-01-31

Keywords

Education

Additional Keywords

Vocational Education, Tertiary Education, Youth Employment

JEL code(s)

C93, I21, I38

Secondary IDs

Abstract

Does admission to a Vocational and Technical Education Training (TVET) school increase the wages and employability of poor Mongolians? This study will evaluate the admission to TVET schools on both academic and labor-market outcomes. We hypothesize that being admitted to a TVET school will cause students to have better labor market outcomes. We hypothesize that admission to TVET schools will increase their factual understanding of trades and familiarize the students with the tools actually used by employers. Employers should then find students more productive than they otherwise would, making it more likely that students will be able to find employment and increasing the wages that employers are willing to pay them. To identify these effects, we worked with a select set of TVET schools in Mongolia to conduct admissions lotteries in three admission years, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Baseline data was collected at time of admission application and follow-up data will be analyzed to assess the impact of TVET admission on labor market outcomes.

External Link(s)

The Millennium Challenge Corporation's Mongolia Impact Evaluation Page

Registration Citation

Citation

Field, Erica et al. 2015. "The Returns to Attending a Vocational Education School: Evidence from a RCT in Mongolia." AEA RCT Registry. March 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.637-1.0

Former Citation

Field, Erica et al. 2015. "The Returns to Attending a Vocational Education School: Evidence from a RCT in Mongolia." AEA RCT Registry. March 30. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/637/history/3901

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

We evaluate the impact of being admitted to Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) schools in Mongolia. Students are admitted to study a specific trade in 1, 2, or 2.5 year programs.

Intervention Start Date

2010-09-01

Intervention End Date

2016-01-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Key outcomes include earnings, employment, type of employment, and graduates' trade-specific skills.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

This study will primarily evaluate the impact of admission to Vocational Education Schools on both academic and labor-market outcomes. The program to reform TVET schools in Mongolia was sponsored by the Millennium Challenge Corporation. Comparable control and treatment groups necessary to estimate the effect of TVET training was created through randomized admissions process in three consecutive academic years. Out of a pool of ‘qualified’ applicants, students were chosen at random to gain admittance to the school. The randomized design ensured that all qualified applicants have an equal probability of receiving vocational and technical training. Qualified applicants who were not admitted will serve as the control group. Surveys were administered to the entire pool of applicants at the time of the application, including a standardized general knowledge test to measure skill levels and academic performance. Shortly after graduation, a follow-up survey will be administered to collect information on labor-market outcomes, including wages and hours worked. Students will also complete standardized trade tests that measure knowledge and skills in specific trades. This follow-up survey will continue annually for three years.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done by computer

Randomization Unit

Randomization occurred at the level of the individual applicant to the TVET schools.

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

N/A

Sample size: planned number of observations

11,000

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

8,126 accepted to TVET schools through admissions lottery, 2,264 not accepted

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

MDE's for Monthly Exposure to Improved Equipment: Upper bound: 0.01 std. deviations for Skills Test scores; 0.42% Employment change; 1.7 USD monthly income change Lower Bound: 0.0056 Std. deviations for skills test scores; 0.24% Employment change and 0.94 USD monthly income change

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB