Dr. Daniel Montolio (p), Mr. Juan Pascual, Dr. Jenifer Ruiz-Valenzuela

This paper examines how vocational education reforms can generate sizable crime-reduction externalities at the neighborhood level. We study the staggered rollout of Dual Vocational Training across Catalonia, starting in 2014. This new approach shifted vocational instruction toward firm-based apprenticeships, expanding workplace training from under 500 hours to over 1,000 hours and introducing subsidized paid apprenticeship contracts. Adoption differed across schools over time, generating policy-relevant quasi-experimental variation. We estimate difference-in-differences models with continuous treatment intensity at the census-tract level. The analysis links administrative records for the universe of Catalan vocational students to daily geocoded police reports (2008–2018).
The results show that a 1 percentage-point increase in the dual track share reduces reported youth crime by approximately 13%. Effects build gradually and strengthen over the second and third years, consistent with persistent behavioral change rather than purely mechanical incapacitation. Reductions concentrate during daytime hours—when apprentices are typically at firms—consistent with incapacitation. Declines are strongest for economically motivated property crimes (especially theft), consistent with increased opportunity costs through earnings and improved labor-market prospects. These results imply that apprenticeship-style programs can deliver substantial non-pecuniary social returns through reduced criminal externalities and, therefore, may play a role in disrupting intergenerational disadvantage.

Prof. Peter Gladoic Hakansson (p)

Campus Varberg in western Sweden was established in 2003 as a learning centre aimed at meeting local and regional needs for qualified labour. It serves as a meeting place, education broker, and engine for regional development. This study evaluates how well the learning centre has contributed to retaining people in the area, increasing the level of education, and attracting new residents. According to Human Capital Theory (see e.g. Becker 1962) individuals invest in their education based on the return of the investment. To maximize returns on human‑capital investment, individuals may relocate to another region after graduation (see e.g. Faggian & McCann 2009). On the other hand, a learning centre may work as a node for a economic cluster. Firms in related sectors create environments that foster knowledge and skilled labour and proximity to education can further support cluster formation through spillovers such as networks, knowledge transfer, and access to graduates (see e.g. Porter 1998).
Two research questions will be addressed: 1) To what extent has Campus Varberg contributed to people who wish to pursue education staying in the region? 2) To what extent has Campus Varberg contributed to highly educated labour establishing themselves in the region?
The study employs quantitative methods based on data from Statistics Sweden’s LISA database (Longitudinal Integration Database for Health Insurance and Labour Market Studies). Since the database is longitudinal and based on individual data, it is possible to track individuals (e.g., whether they have moved or remained in the locality after completing their studies). It is also possible to “tag” towns with learning centres similar to Campus Varberg, as well as towns comparable to Varberg but lacking such centres. By this, the design follows the idea of natural experiments (see e.g., Card 1992). Methods such as Difference-in-Differences (DiD) and Fixed Effects (FE) will be applied.

References
Becker, G. S. (1962). Investment in human capital: A theoretical analysis. Journal of political economy, 70(5, Part 2), 9–49.
Card, D. (1992). Using regional variation in wages to measure the effects of the federal minimum wage. Ilr Review, 46(1), 22–37.
Faggian, A., & McCann, P. (2009). Universities, agglomerations and graduate human capital mobility. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 100(2), 210-223.
Porter, M.E. (1998). Clusters and the new economics of competition, Harvard Business Review 76(6), 77–90.