13 In our study, the comparison between the coefficients of the years of schooling by type of curricula Indicates that there are no significant differences in the retums to schooling between academic and vocational fields of study, nor between the various vocational fields.

Results presented In Columns 2 and 3 Include controls for additional background and labor market variables as well as the education-occupation match dummies. A positive and signfficant sign on the match variable would indicate that vocational leavers employed In study-related fields of work eam more than those who do not, and also eam more than those who pursued academic studies. The actual coefficients show that matched workers do obtain higher earnings than their non-matched counterparts: by about 16 percent for the strict matchings, and about 28 percent for the wider matchings °. The results of the regressions presented in Columns 2 and 3 indicate that while there Is no difference In eamings between academic and vocational non-matched leavers, the eamings of those vocational leavers who work in study related occupations exceed those of their academic counterparts'°.

# Summary and Concluslons

In the now extensive literature evaluating the labor market outcomes of vocational schooling in relation to more academic education, most studies focus on eamings differences without considering other intervening variables, such as the relevance of vocational studies to the type of occupation performed. The results reported In this paper for Brazil, which are parallel to those in recent similar studies for other countries, are far more favorable with regard to vocational schooling than is the traditional evaluation literature, particularly for developing countries. We find that the type of curriculum received in secondary school does not, in itself, have a significant impact on eamings. Vocational school completers and their academic counterparts have similar eamings outcomes when the vocational school leavers are employed in occupations unrelated to their field of study. It is vocational schooling combined with relevant occupation that Is conducive to higher eamings. When vocational school leavers are employed in occupations related to their field of study, their eamings are significantly higher than those from the academic stream.

Our results point to the importance of broadening the scope of the evaluation studies on the labor market outcomes of vocational and academic secondary school leavers, to Include more Information on the occupation of vocational school completers, as well as on the employment environment generally. Yet while the traditional methodology can be criticized for generally failing to take 9 Given that we did not find significant differences in the retums to schooling between vocational fields, we did not test this relationship for each of the fields of study.

'° In a recent paper, published after this research was completed, Tannen (1991) found no significant differences between the eamings of vocational and academic secondary school completers; though based on the same deta set he did not draw the distinction matched and unmatched vocational school completers.