Alumni

Technology is changing everything, and education is no exception. In a world of rapidly changing technology, will vocation-specific or transversal skills be the most relevant?  This debate is challenged by lack of data. Research on the impact of vocational education in macroeconomic settings is scarce. To address this gap, this thesis builds a dataset for vocational secondary schooling and uses it to determine the effect of vocational secondary schooling on long-run macroeconomic performance. General numeracy skills are arguably foundational skills for work (and life) that can be honed in specific occupations.  The thesis examines the effect of public investment on adult numeracy skills and concludes that public investment is an important determinant, and that the timing and spread of investment matters.  In 12 advanced economies, differences are found between people who pursued vocational versus general higher education in: their use of numeracy skills on the job and their education-job match.  These differences depend (at least in part) on the structure of the overall education system.  An exploratory survey was conducted in the Netherlands and the in New York State in the United States, two countries with very differently structured education systems. Higher professional education institutions in the two places experience different challenges and opportunities when they try to adapt their educational services to meet the needs of a changing workplace.

	Selected publications by Alison Cathles
Articles (journal, professional, popular)
Cathles, Alison, 2020, `Sources of Data on Digital Talent in Latin America and the Caribbean, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), More information
Cathles, Alison & Juan Carlos Navarro, 2019, `Disrupting Talent: The Emergence of Coding Bootcamps and the Future of Digital Skills, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), More information
Book chapters
Ortega, Leonardo, Alison Cathles & Matteo Grazzi, 2017, E-Commerce and Productivity: Evidence from Chile, in: Editors: Kaur H., Lechman E., Marszk A. , Catalyzing Development through ICT Adoption, Springer, Cham, More information
Cathles, Alison & Siobhan Pangerl, 2016, Different Obstacles for Different Productivity Levels? An Analysis of Caribbean Firms, in: Matteo Grazzi and Carlo Pietrobelli (eds), Firm Innovation and Productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, More information
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
Cathles, Alison, 2016, New variables for vocational secondary schooling: Patterns around the world from 1950-2010, UNU-MERIT Working Paper 2016-002
External working papers
Cathles, Alison, Drew Gardiner, Micheline Goedhuys, Chen Gong, Michelle Gonzalez Amador & Eleonora Nillesen, 2020, Youth Aspirations and the Future of Work: A Review of the Literature and Evidence, ILO working paper #8, More information
Cathles, Alison, Gaurav Nayyar & Désirée Rückert, 2020, Digital technologies and firm performance: Evidence from Europe. EIB Working Paper 2020/06, More information
Veen, Tom van, Alison Cathles, Ou Dongshu, Simone Sasso & Mary Setrana, 2018, Where Do You Come from, where Do You Go? Assessing Skills Gaps and LabourMarket Outcomes of Young Adults with Different Immigration Backgrounds, More information
Cathles, Alison & Jo Ritzen, 2017, Money Counts, But so Does Timing: Public Investment and Adult Competencies , IZA Discussion Paper No. 10565, More information
Cathles, Alison, 2014, Entrepreneurship Data for Latin America and the Caribbean: What Is There and What Is Missing?, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Technical Note No. IDB-TN-729, More information
Conference contributions
Cathles, Alison & Adam Szirmai, 2017, 'Breaking Apart Human Capital: The Role of Vocational Education in Economic Growth', Conference of Midwest Economic Association, Cincinnati, 31 March -2 April, 2017
Cathles, Alison & Jo Ritzen, 2016, Educational Investments and Adult Competencies, WUN Economics Workshop 2016, Maastricht University , More information
Theses
Cathles, Alison, 2019, Educational Pathways and Skills: Past, Present and Future, PhD dissertation Maastricht University / United Nations University, More information