Volume 15, Number 1 (Winter) 1980
Fredland, John Eric, and Roger D. Little. 1980. "Long-Term Returns to Vocational Training: Evidence from Military Sources." Journal of Human Resources 15(1):49-66.
Although several studies have examined the effects of vocational training on earnings, little empirical attention has been devoted to long-run returns. This paper reports on an investigation of returns to a sample, drawn from the NLS data, of mid-career white male workers who received military vocational training in World War II and immediately thereafter. In contrast to the largely ambiguous regressions from short-run studies, the cross-section earnings regressions reported here strongly suggest that those who use their vocational training received long-term premiums. Those who took training but report not using it appear to earn no premiums, indicating that the training effects are job-specific.
The authors are faculty members of the Department of Economics, United States Naval Academy. We wish to thank Howard Block, R. J. Goodman, Andrew Kohen, Wayne Vroman, the editor, and two anonymous referees for helpful comments.
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