%0 Report
        %A Martins, Pedro S.
%A Silva, Pedro Luís
%A Temudo, Madalena
%A Pinho, Ana
        %T The Employment–Education Trade-off in School-Based Vocational Education: Evidence from Peers’ Choices
        %D 2026
        %8 2026 Aug
        %I Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        %C Bonn
        %7 IZA Discussion Paper
        %N 18884
        %U https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18884
        %X Vocational education and training (VET) may accelerate employment transitions at the cost of reducing further education participation. We quantify this trade-off in a school-based VET system, drawing on linked administrative and survey data in Portugal. We use the share of lower-secondary classmates who subsequently choose upper-secondary VET as an instrument for individual VET enrollment. We find a pronounced trade-off in early post-school transitions: vocational enrollment increases employment by 26-34 percentage points and improves several job quality indicators; however, VET reduces further education participation by 30-40 percentage points and is associated with higher unemployment.
        %K school-to-work transition
%K peer choices
%K school-based vocational education
%K NEET
%K job quality