The Pros and Cons of the Dual System of Vocational Education versus those of the Active Lifecycle in a Changing World

Both politics and research to date emphasise that vocationally-specific education or training has an advantage over all general forms of education by making it easier for young people to move from the educational into the vocational system. However, Eric A. Hanushek, Stanford University, Ludger Wößmann, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and Ifo Institut, and Lei Zhang, National Institute for Fiscal Studies at Tsinghua University, show that this advantage is outweighed by the disadvantage of reduced employment possibilities at an older age, if the full active lifecycle is taken into account and the economy is subject to fast technological and structural change.