The educational quality of early school leavers and the cross-national variation of their income disadvantage

The average quality of available educational resources varies significantly across Europe. This not only affects school success and failure but also subsequent labour market outcomes. The main research question in this paper is to what extent this compositional variation among early school leavers (ESLrs) in particular can account for the cross-national variation of their income disadvantage relative to higher educated individuals. Findings from three consecutive years of cross-sectional data (European Union Statistics on Income & Living Conditions [EU-SILC], 2005-2007) show that, controlling for the influence of other important country-level indicators, both educational expenditure and a country's mean [OECD Programme for International Student Assessment] PISA achievement test score interact with the effect of early school leaving on gross personal income. The income disadvantage of ESLrs is smaller in countries where the average quality of available educational resources is higher. Furthermore, this also applies to educational resources currently available to ESLrs, with the prevalence of lifelong learning yielding the same moderating effect on the income disadvantage of ESLrs.

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The average quality of available educational resources varies significantly across Europe. This not only affects school success and failure but also subsequent labour market outcomes. The main research question in this paper is to what extent this compositional variation among early school leavers (ESLrs) in particular can account for the cross-national variation of their income disadvantage relative to higher educated individuals. Findings from three consecutive years of cross-sectional data (European Union Statistics on Income & Living Conditions [EU-SILC], 2005-2007) show that, ...  [+] Show more