Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UK and Malden, USAIJTDInternational Journal of Training and Development1360-3736Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

2005March 2005917994ArticlesDeveloping human resources for the

technical workforce

International Journal of Training and Development 9:1

ISSN 1360-3736

Developing human resources

for the technical workforce: a
comparative study of Korea
and Thailand
Joshua D. Hawley and Jeeyon Paek
Asian countries face significant and growing shortages of technically skilled workers. Vocational-technical systems are key
components of national human resource development. Using
labor market data from Thailand and Korea, this paper
analyzes the economic payoff for individual investment in
vocational-technical education, and subsequent employment
in a related occupation. The results are mixed, showing that
relatively few men or women end up working in areas that they
are trained for, but that for men in Korea and women in
Thailand, employment in a related field pays off in terms of
higher monthly earnings. As governments move toward workforce policy created in conjunction with firms and education,
the results of this study reinforce the need for national development plans that address the relatively weak relationship
between initial training and employment in Asian countries.

Introduction
Asian countries face significant and growing shortages of technically skilled workers
(APEC, 2004; Venter, 2003). The most recent APEC summit of human resource development ministers reported that basic education is not enough to prepare entry-level
employees, and that countries need to work more effectively to build a culture of
lifelong learning (APEC, 2001). Koreas science and technical workforce grew from
about 70,000 in 1990 to 128,000 in 1999. Even in 1999, during the economic crisis
r Joshua D. Hawley, Assistant Professor, Workforce Development and Education, The Ohio State
University, 283A Arps Hall, 1945 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43210. Email: Hawley.32@osu.edu.
Jeeyon Paek, Doctoral Student, Workforce Development and Education, The Ohio State University,
287 Arps Hall, 1945 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43210. Email: paek.7@osu.edu
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St., Malden, MA 02148,
USA.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 79

recovery, Korea faced labor shortages in key technical areas, such as manufacturing
(Kang, 2002). The growth of jobs requiring highly technical skills is accelerating in
Korea. Thailands need for technically skilled workers is also increasing. Thailands
ninth National Social and Economic Development Plan (20022006) stresses the development of Human Resources to meet current economic challenges.
The authors selected Korea and Thailand because they provide the most comparable
data sets among those countries that have similar educational structures. Both countries have a substantial proportion of graduates from vocational secondary education
in addition to those from academic secondary education.
The growth of new economic sectors, and the success of HRD plans, depends on
the ability of vocational-technical education systems to train entry-level workers
for fields in demand. For a number of reasons, however, policy-makers have consistently questioned the necessity of providing vocational-technical education to youth.
Vocational-technical education is historically more expensive than academic secondary
schooling (Tsang, 1997), and parents consistently prefer to enroll students in academic
secondary schools (Orapin, 1991). Additionally, scholars point out that vocationaltechnical education often fails to achieve its primary outcome: preparing youth for the
labor market in specific fields of study (Adams, 2002).
Scholars do show that youth completing vocational-technical education in specific
fields who remain employed in related occupations have higher earnings than those
who enter the labor market in a field unrelated to their schooling (Arriagada &
Ziderman, 1992; Neuman & Ziderman, 1991, 1999). However, in making this determination about the relative effectiveness of vocational-technical education, existing studies have failed to examine differences between men and women.
This paper selected two Asian countries, Korea and Thailand, to measure the impact
of vocational education in fields related to areas of study. Korea and Thailand are both
Asian countries that experienced a severe currency and economic crisis in 1998, but
they are quite different in terms of cultural/political backgrounds and economic conditions. While Korea has a strong Confucian influence, placing great value on education and the humanities, Thailand is primarily a Buddhist country (Keyes, 1989). Korea
is considered a high-income country, and is a member of the OECD. The GNI per
capita stands at US$9,930, in comparison to the regional average of US$5,300. Thailand,
in contrast, is considered a lower middle-income country with a lower level of GNI
per capita, at US$1,980. Thailand has a larger population, with 61.2 million, compared
to 47.3 million in Korea in 2001 (The World Bank, 2003). Over 80 percent of Koreas
population lives in urban areas, compared to 20 percent in Thailand.
One of the most interesting differences between Thailand and Korea involves participation rates in the workforce. In 1990, 76 percent of women were in the workforce
in Thailand, compared to 47 percent in Korea. This gender difference did not change
fundamentally over the decade. In 2000, 49 percent of Korean women were in the labor
force, in comparison to 79 percent of Korean men. In contrast, in 2000, 76 percent of
Thai women were working. Currently, there are relatively small differences in terms
of educational enrollments between Korea and Thailand, but this masks rapid change
in the 1990s, especially in Thailands secondary education enrollments. In 2000/2001,
Thailand had 634,872 people (34 percent of secondary school enrollments) enrolled in
vocational-technical schooling. In contrast, in 2000/2001, Korea had 656,606 people (51
percent of secondary education enrollments) enrolled in vocational-technical schooling
(Asia Development Bank, 2004).
This paper uses data from the Korean Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) and the
Thai National Labor Force Survey (NLFS). The study examines the relationship between
formal training programs and workers subsequent employment in Korea and Thailand.
We will examine how technical education is relevant to employment in related occupational areas. Additionally, we will examine the relevance of technical education in
terms of gender, country, and region. Moreover, the studys methodology explores the
relative utility of post-secondary vocational education and training. The conclusions
can help determine the specific situations of vocationally-technically educated individuals, and provide guidance for future research on these important questions.
80 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Theoretical framework
The starting point for the majority of formal policy statements on vocational-technical
schooling is the 1991 World Bank policy paper on vocational education and training
(Middleton et al., 1993; The World Bank, 1991). Since that time, we have witnessed
scattered debates on the international stage about the role of vocational education and
training. Most recently, the World Bank produced a series of case studies (Gill et al.,
2000) highlighting the state of global vocational education and training. The OECD
produced a large set of case studies and, more broadly, a summary document on
school-to-work transitions in the late 1990s (Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development, 1998).
This academic discussion is taking place at the same time as there are contradictory
developments in commitments to vocational and technical education internationally.
In general, the proportion of secondary education students involved in vocational
education has remained high in Europe. Of the 16 countries with the highest proportion of vocational enrollments, 13 are in Europe (Hawley, 2005). Two of the largest
vocational and technical education systems in Europe (in the United Kingdom and
Germany) experienced small increases in enrollment. In contrast, Poland and France,
each with over 1.5 million vocational and technical education students in 1998, experienced small declines in enrollment.
Among Asian nations, which have a history of large numbers of vocational school
completers, enrollments have declined in some of the larger systems, including Turkey,
the Republic of Korea, Japan, and Israel. Japans system, which stood at 1.17 million
in 1998, declined 3.8 percent to 1.12 million in 2001. In Korea, vocational-technical
education enrollments declined 12 percent between 1998 and 2001. Longer-term trends
are more varied. For example, in Indonesia, the proportion of secondary school students in vocational programs was 22 percent in 1970, 11 percent in 1980, and 13 percent
in 1995. In contrast, Koreas enrollments in technical-vocational schooling increased
during the 1970s, but remained at approximately 20 percent of total secondary level
enrollments during the 1980s and 1990s. In Thailand, the proportion of secondary
school students in vocational schooling was 17 percent in 1995, remaining relatively
constant since 1980. Data on China is incomplete, but publications document the
emphasis that the Chinese government has placed on increasing their proportion of
vocational and technical education completers during this period of economic growth
(Yang, 1998). In China, growth in vocational enrollment is encouraged by increases in
technical training in service and industry, which are in high demand in the private
sector.
Vocational-technical education is commonly considered successful if graduates
from specific concentrations end up employed, specifically in an occupation or
industry related to their field of study (Middleton et al., 1993). This is theoretically
important, as vocational curricula tend to be highly specific, providing skills development in limited areas such as masonry or computer installation. If students are
working in areas outside of their field, they are forced to apply skills learned in one
occupation to another area. Therefore, students must acquire skills related to new
occupations through additional formal training at the firm level, informal training
via colleagues, or additional years in school for retraining. Likewise, firms have a
built-in interest in hiring youth with formal training in specific areas, as one can
assume that these individuals will require less time and fewer resources to be
productive.
Authors have focused on examining critical questions about the relationship
between education and occupation. For example, Neuman and Ziderman (1991) investigated the relationship between education and employment in a related occupational
area. In one study, they found that completing schooling and working in a related
occupational area raises earnings by as much as eight percent monthly. Similarly,
Arriagada and Ziderman (1992) analyzed data from Brazil, concluding that working
in a matched occupation after completing vocational schooling led to a 37 percent
earnings difference when compared with workers in non-matched occupations. A
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 81

study on the United States by Hotchkiss (1993) offered a less favorable view of completing vocational schooling and working in a matched occupation.
While the models used by both Hotchkiss (1993) and Neuman and Ziderman (1999)
offer important methodological guidance for computing the advantages of working
in a matched job, no previous study has used data on women. As far as we can tell,
all conclusions about the relative proportion of vocational completers working in
related fields have been based entirely on data from studies of men.
This study examines the following research questions.
1.
2.
3.
4.

Does work within an occupation related to the field of study increase the monthly
earnings of vocational completers?
How do the estimates for the returns on employment in a related field of study
differ between men and women?
Does acquisition of a post-secondary degree increase the likelihood of completing
a vocational-technical degree, and finding employment in a related area?
How does the occupational transition for vocational education differ between
Korea and Thailand?

One of the limitations of this study is the ability to generalize beyond Korea or
Thailand. Because the data sets analyzed are from only two countries in specific time
frames, the results cannot be generalized to every country at any point of time. Another
limitation is that the primary variable of interest, matched vocational education and
employment, might not be as precise as we would like due to the limited information
available. The codes for vocational field of study are not mutually exclusive and are
not clear enough to make an exact match with the codes for occupation. This is a
common limitation in other studies of this nature, and reflects the inherent problems
with linked occupation and education studies.

Methodology
Samples
The two data sets used for this research Thailands National Labour Force Survey
(NLFS) and Koreas Labor and Income Panel Study (KLIPS) are national labor market
surveys, allowing comparisons between regions and genders. The data sets, sampling
methodology, and descriptive statistics for Thailand and Korea are outlined below.
Thailand
The NFLS contains individual level data on education attainment, occupational status,
and the earnings of workers. This analysis is limited to men and women between the
ages of 24 and 35 who worked full-time from 1994 to 1998. The NLFS is administered
four times a year throughout Thailand by the National Statistics Office. The sample is
stratified by community and household, and is representative of the kingdom as a
whole. The survey instrument used includes sections on economic status, labor market
participation, and education, in addition to health. The measures for education have
remained largely unchanged since the survey was first administered in 1963. The study
focuses on 2435-year-old workers because the economy has changed so dramatically
over the period of study, and because one expects younger workers to experience
greater changes in earnings due to shifts in supply and demand (Kim, 1994; Mincer,
1974; Wu, 1995). Using the pooled sample from Thailand produced samples of 7,696
men (57 percent of whom were in vocational education) and 6,130 women (64 percent
of whom completed vocational schooling).
The NLFS specifies the field of vocational-technical schooling completed. Table 1
provides information on fields of study, and the percentage of completers employed
within a broad occupational area. One-digit codes from the National Labor Force
Survey are used.
As clarified in Table 1, the codes for vocational field of study are not mutually
exclusive. Therefore, it would be incorrect to analyze the relative effectiveness of
82 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Table 1: Numbers of vocational-technical completers and the percentage employed in related

occupational areas, by broad field of study (Thailand)
Subject of vocational
study

Education, Nursing,
Obstetrics and Health
Education
Education, Military
Vocational, Obstetrics
and Health
Any occupational area*
Education, Agriculture,
Trade, Health and
Obstetrics
Totals

Number of
vocational-technical
completers
(male/female)

Number
employed
in related field
(male/female)

Percentage
(male/female)

16/29

3/1

18.8%/3.5%

18/6
2,191/1,672

3/1
1,176/364

16.7%/16.7%
53.7%/21.8%

20/28
2,181/2,232

20/28
557/194

100.0%/100.0%
25.5%/8.7%

4,426/3,967

1,759/588

39.7%/14.8%

* This code did not provide information about the broad field of study. Recipients were coded
as employed in a matched field. Given the small numbers of completers in this field this decision
will likely have very little impact on the empirical estimates.

specific vocational concentrations in placing students in related employment. It is

possible, however, to interpret the coefficient on the Matched variable. Interpreting the
estimates from this variable provides a broad measure of the relative effect of enrolling
and gaining employment in a broadly similar area of study. The most important
disadvantage of this strategy is that it assumes that those who finished school in, for
example, health, and then were employed in education or trade (as is the case in
one subject area), are employed in a matched occupation.
Korea
The KLIPS contains family-level data based on a composition of family members and
the total earnings and expenses; and individual-level data on education attainment,
occupational status, and the earnings of workers. The KLIPS have conducted the labor
related panel study annually with 13,000 individuals in 5,000 families since 1998. The
samples were selected by stratified random sampling, and the survey was implemented mainly through face-to-face interviews with supplemental phone interviews.
The instruments were developed for family-level and individual-level data in 1998,
and additional instruments for young adults behavior in the labor market were
developed and implemented since 2000.
The Korean case analysis is limited to men and women between the ages of 19 and
39 who worked full-time from 2000 to 2001. Full-time is defined as those whose selfreporting monthly wage is equal to or above 300,000 Korean won in year 2000. The
sample is further restricted to individuals who work as employees in either government or private sector businesses, excluding individuals classified as employers, the
self-employed, or individuals whose work is restricted to household work. In total,
the data sets produced samples of 1,332 men (38 percent of whom were in vocational
education) and 1,246 women (41 percent of whom completed vocational schooling).
The percentage of vocational training or certificate represents those who have ever
received vocational training regardless of site and fund source or those who have at
least one or more industry certificate or license.
The KLIPS data include a field specifying the type of vocational-technical schooling
completed. Table 2 provides information on fields of study, and the percentage of
completers employed within each broad occupational area. One-digit codes from the
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 83

Table 2: Numbers of vocational completers and the percentage employed in related occupational
areas, by broad field of study (Korea)
Subject of vocational
study

Number of
vocational
completers
(male/female)

Number
employed in
related field
(male/female)

Percentage
(male/female)

Farming
Industrial or technical
Commercial or business
Marine
General vocational education
Foreign language
Home economics
Any occupational area

18/8
285/8
75/241
6/0
93/225
6/0
19/29
3/4

0/0
199/5
6/117
0/0
22/100
2/0
2/0
0/0

0.0%/0.0%
69.8%/62.5%
8.0%/48.6%
0.0%/0.0%
23.7%/44.4%
0.0%/0.0%
0.0%/0.0%
0.0%/0.0%

Total

505/515

232/222

45.0%/43.1%

KLIPS were used; these nine occupation codes were classified into three levels high
skill job, mid skill job, and low skill job to increase statistical power. Although the codes
of vocational field of study are not clear enough (Table 2), it is possible to interpret the
coefficient on the Matched variable. Interpreting the estimates from this variable provides a broad measure of the relative effect of enrolling and gaining employment in a
broadly similar area of study.
All Korea data was computed with cross-sectional weights in order to represent the
population.
Analytical technique
The data for Korea and Thailand are analyzed separately through Ordinary Least
Squares regression methods. All computations are completed for men and women
separately. Models include weights that adjust samples for proportions in the population. The basic model used regresses the log of monthly earnings on a vector of
background characteristics and educational qualifications:
ln earn = b0 + b1(Matched)i + b 2(Vocational)i + b3(PostSecVoc)i + b4(Edyrs)i + b5(Exp)i
(1)
+ b6(Exp - SQ)i + b7(Occupation)i + b8(Region)i + b9(Public)i + m
In this study, we were primarily interested in the coefficients on the variable Vocational, a dummy variable equal to 1 if the course of study was completed as a vocational
degree, and 0 as an academic area. The variable Matched, a dummy variable, was equal
to 1 if the vocational area of study was matched to an occupation in a related area.
Additionally, the variable PostSecVoc provided estimates of the additional benefit/
reduction in log monthly earnings attributable to the completion of a post-secondary
vocational certificate.
All models include controls for years of education completed, levels of potential
labor market experience (defined as age the number of years of schooling 6), the square
of years of potential labor market experience, region of residence (north, northeast,
south, central, or Bangkok), occupation, and whether or not an individual was
employed in the public sector.

Results
Descriptive findings
The descriptive data (shown in Table 3) illustrate the similarities and differences in the
status of technical-vocational schooling in Korea and Thailand. While vocational com84 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

pleters comprise less than half of the total sample in the Korean case, vocational
completers comprise more than half of the sample in Thailand. Interestingly, vocational education is highly concentrated in urban areas in Korea, but much less so in
Thailand. Fifty-five percent of vocational graduates in Korea were from metropolitan
cities in comparison to less than ten percent from Bangkok in Thailands case.
Different wage distributions are observed from a comparison of the Korea and
Thailand cases. Average monthly log earnings for men are higher than average
earnings for women in both countries. However, average monthly log earnings for
vocational completers are slightly lower than average earnings for academic school
graduates in Korea while average earnings for vocational completers are slightly
higher in Thailand.
The average years of potential work experience for men are longer than the average
years of experience for women in both countries. Korea, however, has much larger
gender difference in average years of potential work experience. The gap in the average years of experience by gender is less than half a year for Thailand. In contrast,
Korean women lag behind men in experience, by three years on average. Research
on Korean women reported that housework, childcare, nursing, and other tasks still
remain largely womens responsibilities, thus making it difficult for women to remain
employed after their late 20s and 30s (Kim, 1996).
Regression results
Thailand
Table 4 presents the statistical results for Thailand. The coefficient on Vocational is
positive and statistically significant for both genders at the one percent level, indicating that education in a vocational field provides higher average earnings for both men
and women. This is consistent with earlier studies using the NLFS (Hawley, 2003a;
Moenjak & Worswick, 2003). It is interesting to note that the private earnings differences reported by Thailands vocational education graduates are higher than those
reported in other countries. Bennell (1996) showed that in only nine of 19 studies
reviewed was the rate of return on general secondary education higher than for
vocational schooling. It is important to remember, however, that the results reported
here are focused on private rates of return, not on social rates that take into account
the costs of schooling.
Employment in a matched occupation
The central research question examined the impact of completing vocational education
and obtaining employment in a matched occupational area. The coefficient on Matched
for both men and women is negative, and is statistically significant for males. The
coefficient for men (-0.083, p < 0.05) can be expressed as a percentage of the log
monthly earnings using the formula Exp(B) - 1. Using this formula, employment in a
matched occupation is associated with an eight percent decrease in average log
monthly earnings. However, after including an interaction term for Experience and
Matched, the results shifted quite substantially. Table 4 presents an additional model
including the interaction term (Model 2). As indicated, the coefficient on Matched is
now positive and significant for women, and negative and significant for men. The
coefficient on Matched for females (0.1670, p = 0.092) indicates that a matched occupation is associated with an 18 percent increase in initial years with zero years of
experience. The coefficient on the interaction term (-0.019, p = 0.032) indicates that
each additional year of experience is associated with a decrease in the increment to
monthly log earnings due to employment in a matched occupation.
The results for men are quite different. Using the interaction term for experience in
the model, the coefficient on Matched is significant and negative (-0.18, p = 0.007).
Using this specification, the difference between the monthly earnings of vocational
graduates employed in a matched occupation and those employed in a non-matched
field was -17 percent. However, the interaction term experience*matched (0.01, p =
0.106) illustrates that for each additional year of experience, the gap between male
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 85

86 International Journal of Training and Development

Table 3: Definitions and means for full-time wage earners who completed vocational or academic high school
Korea
Vocational school
completers
(male/female)

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Monthly earnings (log)

Schooling
Experience
Experience squared
Region of residence
Metropolitan cities*
Rural areas*
Bangkok**
North**
South**
Northeast**
Center**
Public sector employment
Employment in a matched occupation
Vocational schooling
Post-secondary vocational schooling
Vocational training or certificate*
Sample size
Sample size by gender
% of sample vocational completers
* Data available only in KLIPS (Korea data).
** Data available only in NLFS (Thailand data).

Thailand
Academic school
completers
(male/female)

6.00/5.84
12.48/12.40
10.07/6.46
126.64/62.32

6.08/5.90
13.42/13.21
9.76/6.91
114.32/69.98

55%/55%
45%/45%

54%/56%
46%/44%

6%/6%
45%/43%
100%/100%
17%/13%
30%/40%
505/515
1332/1246
38%/41%

13%/14%
1%/2%
0%/0%
60%/40%
24%/23%
827/731

Vocational school
completers
(male/female)

Academic school
completers
(male/female)

8.79/8.64
12.98/13.12
10.27/9.91
118.36/11.75

9.56/8.41
12.25/12.47
10.10/9.58
111.48/102.22

8%/9%
17%/17%
20%/21%
21%/22%
35%/32%
40%/46%
40%/10%
100%/100%
50%/57%

6%/7%
19%/18%
18%/17%
21%/20%
35%/39%
47%/26%
0%/0%
0%/0%
0%/0%

4426/3967
7696/6130
58%/65%

3270/2163

Table 4: Regression of monthly earnings (log) for full-time workers, academic and vocational
school completers in Thailand, 19951998 (n = 7696 (male), 6130 (female))
Male

Schooling
Experience
Experience squared
Hours worked
Region of residence
North
South
Northeast
Center
Public sector employment
Occupation
Professional and academics
Executive administration
Clerk or typist
Trade or sales
Fisherman, farmer, logging
Miner
High skill without certificate
Service, sport, and recreation
Other
Employment in a matched occupation
Vocational schooling
Post-secondary vocational schooling
Experience*Matched
Constant

Model 1

Model 2

Model 1

Model 2

0.104
(0.019)**
0.065
(0.015)**
-0.002
(0.001)**
0.002
(0.001)**

0.098
(0.019)**
0.022
(0.003)**

0.085
(0.014)**
0.021
(0.003)**

0.002
(0.001)**

0.087
(0.014)**
0.056
(0.015)**
-0.002
(0.001)**
-0.001
-0.001

-0.001
-0.001

-0.407
(0.035)**
-0.379
(0.033)**
-0.36
(0.034)**
-0.13
(0.031)**
-0.023
-0.024

-0.407
(0.035)**
-0.379
(0.033)**
-0.36
(0.034)**
-0.129
(0.031)**
-0.026
-0.024

-0.49
(0.045)**
-0.442
(0.029)**
-0.447
(0.031)**
-0.199
(0.026)**
-0.032
-0.027

-0.492
(0.045)**
-0.443
(0.030)**
-0.449
(0.031)**
-0.2
(0.026)**
-0.033
-0.027

0.024
-0.05
0.285
(0.063)**
0.149
(0.037)**
0.164
(0.057)**
-0.217
(0.060)**
0.599
(0.115)**
0.072
(0.036)*
0.085
(0.039)*
0
0
-0.083
(0.034)*
0.182
(0.035)**
-0.016
-0.05

0.022
-0.049
0.29
(0.063)**
0.151
(0.038)**
0.171
(0.058)**
-0.216
(0.061)**
0.592
(0.111)**
0.069
-0.036
0.087
(0.039)*
0
0
-0.183
(0.068)**
0.175
(0.035)**
-0.008
-0.05
0.01
-0.006
7.221
(0.244)**
7696
0.27

-0.025
-0.09
0.403
(0.088)**
-0.013
-0.09
-0.028
-0.102
-0.552
(0.169)**
0
0
-0.048
-0.095
-0.273
(0.098)**
0
0
-0.033
-0.042
0.161
(0.030)**
-0.025
-0.037

-0.031
-0.09
0.386
(0.086)**
-0.021
-0.09
-0.038
-0.103
-0.567
(0.167)**
0
0
-0.049
-0.095
-0.274
(0.098)**
0
0
0.167
-0.099
0.161
(0.030)**
-0.027
-0.037
-0.019
(0.009)*
7.566
(0.236)**
6130
0.3

6.919
(0.259)**
7696
0.28

Observations
R-squared

Female

7.387
(0.259)**
6130
0.3

Robust standard errors in parentheses.

* significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 87

vocational completers employed in matched and non-matched fields decreases. The

results for men are not in line with other research, while the findings for women are
comparable to previous findings using only men as the sample. For example, Neuman
and Ziderman (1999) reported a four percent increase in earnings due to employment
in an occupational area related to the field of study for men. They do not report
findings for women. Likewise, Arrigada and Ziderman (1992) reported a 37 percent
difference for men in broadly matched occupational fields. They also do not report
data for women.
Post-secondary education
A major concern for individuals in Thailand is the relative value of a post-secondary
credential. In this case, the variable on post-secondary vocational schooling shows
that the earnings of post-secondary vocational completers do not differ significantly
from the sample of both academic and vocational completers at secondary or postsecondary levels. The coefficients for both men and women in Table 4, Model 1 show
that there is no statistically significant difference, controlling for years of schooling.
The implication of this finding is that after controlling for the difference associated
with vocational education (which is positive and significant), there is no additional
benefit due to higher levels of schooling. This finding is in contrast to the positive
difference found in an earlier study using a different sample of individuals from the
NLFS (Hawley, 2003a).
Korea
Table 5 shows the results for Korea. Of particular interest are the results of regression
analysis in Korea. Unlike many previous studies in other countries, the coefficient on
vocational education is negative for men, with statistical significance at the five percent
level, showing that vocational secondary education provides lower average earnings
for men. However, the coefficient is positive and statistically significant for women at
the five percent level, showing that vocational secondary education provides higher
average earnings for women.
Employment in a matched occupation
The coefficient on a matched occupation is positive for males and negative for females,
and for women is statistically significant at the five percent level. The coefficient for
women on Matched occupation (-0.045, p = 0.015) indicates a decrease in log monthly
earnings in Model 1. It can be interpreted that employment in a matched occupation
is associated with a 4.5 percent decrease in average log monthly earnings for women.
However, when we ran the data on full-time workers with final education at the
secondary level, the result for men changed (Table 5, Model 2). The coefficient for men
is positive and statistically significant at the five percent level. In Model 2, for men
the coefficient on a matched occupation is 0.033 (p = 0.017), and for women is -0.039
(p = 0.015). This indicates that employment in a matched occupation is associated with
a 3.3 percent increase in average log monthly earnings for men, and a 3.9 percent
decrease in average log monthly earnings for women. Although the proportion
decreased from 4.5 percent to 3.9 percent for women, it remained negative.
Post-secondary education
The coefficient on post-secondary education is positive and statistically significant at
the one percent level for both men and women in Korea. Analysis indicates that the
earnings of post-secondary graduates are significantly different from the sample of
both academic and vocational completers. It can be interpreted that men who completed post-secondary education received higher earnings on average by 0.18 log
earnings than those who did not, after controlling for years of experience, vocational
schooling, and employment in a matched occupation. Women who completed postsecondary education received higher earnings by 0.19 log earnings than those who did
not, after controlling for years of experience, vocational schooling, and employment
in a matched occupation. As many previous studies have asserted, post-secondary
88 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Table 5: Model 1: Regression of monthly earnings (log) for full-time workers, academic or vocational school completers, 20002001 (n = 1332 (Male), 1246
(Female)); Model 2: Regression of monthly earnings (log) for full-time workers, only vocational school completers either having post-secondary vocational
education or not, 20002001 (n = 505 (Male), 515 (Female)) (Korea)
Male

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 89

Experience
Experience squared
Region of residence
Metropolitan cities
Public sector employment
Occupation
High skill job
Mid skill job
Low skill job
Employment in a matched occupation
Vocational schooling
Post-secondary vocational schooling
Vocational training or certificate
Constant
Observations
R-squared
Robust standard errors in parentheses.
* significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%.

Female

Model 1

Model 2

Model 1

0.22 (0.004)**
0.00 (0.00)

0.20 (0.006)**
0.00 (0.00)

0.012 (0.003)**
0.00 (0.00)

-0.01 (0.009)
0.036 (0.015)*

-0.016 (0.016)
0.029 (0.034)

-0.003 (0.009)
0.106 (0.015)**

-0.006 (0.015)
0.123 (0.029)**

0.062 (0.033)
0.024 (0.029)
-0.012 (0.030)
0.024 (0.015)
-0.026 (0.012)*
0.181 (0.010)**
-0.014 (0.011)
5.75 (0.035)**
1332
0.429

0.125 (0.073)
0.007 (0.055)
0.053 (0.056)
0.021 (0.016)

-0.017 (0.035)
-0.039 (0.033)
-0.070 (0.036)
-0.045 (0.015)*
0.037 (0.012)*
0.190 (0.012)**
-0.014 (0.010)
5.78 (0.035)**
1246
0.280

0.023 (0.064)
0.016 (0.051)
-0.008 (0.054)
-0.05 (0.016)*

0.168 (0.022)**
5.674 (0.063)**
505
0.371

Model 2
-0.003 (0.005)
0.00 (0.00)

0.118 (0.023)**
5.828 (0.053)**
515
0.118

education provided higher return in terms of individual earnings (without taking into
account the expenses of post-secondary education).

Conclusions
This study compared the return on vocational schooling in Thailand and Korea, using
data from two national-level surveys. The descriptive data illustrated the similarities
and differences in the status of technical-vocational schooling in Korea and Thailand.
While vocational graduates comprised less than half of the total sample in the Korean
case, that figure was more than half in Thailand. Vocational education graduates were
38 percent of the sample for men and 41 percent for women in Korea, and 58 percent
for men and 65 percent for women in Thailand. Interestingly, vocational education is
highly concentrated in urban areas in Korea, but much less so in Thailand. Fifty-five
percent of vocational graduates in Korea were from metropolitan areas, compared to
less than ten percent from Bangkok in the case of Thailand.
Different wage distributions were observed between Korea and Thailand. Average
monthly log earnings for men were higher than average earnings for women in both
countries. However, average monthly log earnings for vocational completers are
slightly lower than average earnings for academic graduates in Korea, while average
earnings for vocational completers were slightly higher in Thailand. Although average
years of potential work experience for men were longer than for women in both
countries, Korea had a much larger difference between men and women. The gap in
average years of experience by gender was less than a half year for Thailand. In
contrast, the average experience gap was three years in Korea (with men ahead of
women). Research on Korean women reported that housework, childcare, nursing, and
other tasks still remain largely womens responsibilities, making it difficult for women
to continue to work after their late 20s and 30s (Kim, 1996).
Korean data shows that both men and women with vocational education work in
fields related to their vocational schooling by more than 40 percent. In Thailand, 40
percent of men work in a field related to their studies, while only ten percent of women
had a matched occupation. Interestingly, 17 percent of Korean men and 13 percent
of Korean women who completed vocational secondary education received postsecondary education, while for both men and women in Thailand, 50 percent of those
who completed vocational secondary education received post-secondary education.
Regression-based findings
This study furthers research into a critical question for human resource development:
Does the payoff of technical-vocational schooling increase with employment in the
field for which one was trained? The evidence from Korea shows that men enjoy a
benefit, but not women. For both men and women in Thailand, employment in a
matched field does not offer a payoff.
Matched fields and earnings payoffs
In both cases, we were able to offer a more nuanced view of the circumstances that
lead to a higher return on employment in a matched occupation. In the case of
Thailand, experience seems important in ensuring that employment in a matched field
leads to wage gains. In the case of women, in particular, employment in a matched
field depends significantly on the number of years of experience in the labor market.
Similarly, for Thai men, each additional year of experience led to a decrease in the
negative coefficient associated with employment in a matched occupation. In the case
of Korea, the key appears to be employment in a full-time occupation. For Korean
women, employment in a matched full-time occupation led to a decrease in log
monthly earnings, while for men employment in a matched full-time occupation led
to an increase in the coefficient.
These differences for Korea and Thailand are striking. It is important to recall that
of the handful of studies completed on the outcomes of vocational education and
employment in matched occupations, there are no studies using data on women.
90 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Therefore, while the coefficients on men contradict each other, they fit into the larger
literature. In the case of Israel, Neuman and Ziderman (1991, 1999) found that there
was an eight percent difference for employment in a matched occupation. In Brazil,
Arriagada and Ziderman (1992) showed a 37 percent increase in earnings in matched
occupations. The data from Korea show a much lower increment for earnings (3.3
percent), but are positive as well. In Thailand, the earnings of men in matched occupations were approximately 17 percent less than graduates of vocational schools in
non-matched areas.
Explanations for the striking difference in findings from Thailand come from a
number of angles. The first is organized around data quality and sampling. The Thai
data are representative and come from a high quality data source, the NLFS. However,
the educational credential data in the NLFS is difficult to match with occupational
data. In contrast, in the case of Korea and Brazil (Arriagada & Ziderman, 1992),
educational credentials and occupational data are more closely aligned. The implication of this is that the coefficient in the Thai case represents a broader spectrum of
matching than in the case of Korea, as in earlier studies on Brazil and Israel (Hawley,
2003b; Neuman & Ziderman, 1999).
Gender and matching
The Thai and Korean cases are the first attempts to measure the gender gap in terms
of returns on vocational schooling. While Thailand and Korea offer fundamentally
equal access to schooling at primary and secondary levels for boys and girls, the labor
market participation rate for women in Korea is strikingly lower than for men, but
relatively equal in Thailand. These differences in labor market participation rates can
be found in the levels of experience that women and men had in our sample. Women
had significantly fewer years of experience than men in Korea. In both countries, there
was a significant earning difference between women who were employed in a matched
field, and those who were not. In Thailands case, women benefited from employment
in a matched field, while in Koreas case there was a negative coefficient. These
differences may be due to specific fields of vocational study. In Koreas case, women
are split between Commerce or business and General vocational education. In
contrast, for Thailand, the vocational fields are more diversified into Education,
Health, Trade, and Agriculture (the emphasis here appears to be on professional
fields). Therefore, the positive difference for women in Thailand could be due to the
specialized nature of training offered by Thai vocational schools.
Post-secondary schooling and matching
The final research question focused on the relative impact of participation in postsecondary vocational schooling, and its effect on the outcomes of vocational-technical
schooling. The data from Thailand and Korea offer fundamentally different conclusions. In the case of Korea, both women and men experienced a relatively significant
difference in quarterly log earnings with the acquisition of a post-secondary degree.
In contrast, in Thailand, there was no significant post-secondary coefficient. We would
add, however, that in a previous study on Thailand, Hawley (2003a) showed a significant payoff to post-secondary schooling overall. These differences can likely be attributed to differences in the human resource systems in Thailand and Korea. While both
countries have historically similar pay and education levels, Korean firms and government still provide salaries based primarily on educational level. In contrast, in
Thailand, wages in the private sector are not a function of educational credential (as
they are in the public sector). Moreover, the labor market in Thailand is still highly
dependent on agriculture, and offers fewer opportunities for employment requiring a
post-secondary credential than Korea.

Discussion: implications for human resource policy

Vocational-technical education is increasingly important to Asian-Pacific countries
as they struggle to develop their workforces to compete in the global marketplace
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 91

(Ashton et al., 1999; The World Bank, 2000). In the human resource development field,
scholars have begun to draw attention to the actions of government, stressing the
importance of integrating the development of a technically skilled workforce with the
business goals of firms. In this vein, scholars have developed the concept of National
Human Resource Development (NHRD) (McLean, 2004). The concept of NHRD harkens back to more robust conceptions of the role of government, when training and
development was primarily concerned with manpower planning or forecasting. This
expanded view hopes to ensure that government, business, and education work
together to promote economic development. The quintessential example comes from
Singapore, where the government essentially directed economic growth towards international firms in the 1970s and 1980s through tax policy, repressing wages to attract
firms, and supporting extensive training for entry-level workers and a system of firmlevel training and development. This Singapore system is known in the larger political
economy literature as corporatism. Corporatism is a system of government that
focuses on the interrelated roles of government, business, unions, and education in
promoting economic and workforce development. Some studies of these collective
capitalist systems have highlighted corporatist arrangements between peak associations, unions, and national governments (see, for example, Lynn & McKeown (1988)
for Japan; Schmitter (1979) for Europe).
In the European case, scholars investigated business associations, along with other
collective economic institutions, in research that highlighted successful capitalist systems that operated differently from the prototypical free-market systems in the US and
the UK (Dore et al., 1999). These systems especially in Germany and Italy privileged
a role for collective firm action discouraged in the US through anti-trust regulations.
Japanese business associations have also been included as part of this new competition (Piore & Sabel, 1984). Collective institutions (such as business associations)
allowed firms in these countries to outperform those in the US and the UK in the 1980s
and 1990s, helping to innovate new products and production processes more quickly.
The human resource development field is entering this debate with emerging literature on NHRD. However, the decisions on which HRD researchers and practitioners
focus remain at the organizational level (Jacobs & Hawley, 2003; Swanson, 2001). As
Swanson (2001) notes, the traditional domains of performance of HRD include organization, work processes, and group/individual levels. This emphasis restricts the
typical focus of HRD. In contrast, the traditional view of vocational-technical schooling
is intimately related to governmental action. In their classic text, Middleton et al. (1993)
focus on the critical roles that government can play in strengthening vocationaltechnical education, and the generally problematic achievements of governments up
to this point. The recent spate of policy literature on vocational-technical schooling
(Castro et al., 2000; Herschbach & Campbell, 2000; Johanson, 2002; Calvert & AlShetaiwi, 2002) similarly concludes that employers are a critical component in vocational schooling. However, there is a lack of consensus on the role of government.
This study places one decision of governmental policy in sharp contrast: the funding
of entry-level training through public sector vocational-technical schooling. While
vocational schooling in a matched field pays off for men and women in some countries,
there are various challenges to the development of vocational-technical policy that can
effectively promote a highly skilled workforce. First and foremost, the majority of
individuals in both samples did not work in fields for which they are trained. This
was particularly true for women in Thailand, where only ten percent of the sample
worked in a matched occupation. Secondly, we found that post-secondary training
offered potentially strong opportunities for reinforcing the impact of employment in
a matched field. Finally, we described the gender differences in returns on vocationaltechnical schooling.
These descriptions reveal the need for an increased focus on employer involvement
in human resource policy, as described in corporatist systems. What this means practically for HRD scholars is difficult to know, because the traditional emphasis of HRD
lies in organizational elements of training and development. Similarly, the concept of
corporatism and larger scholarship on the relationship between business and govern92 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

ment has evolved. Current trends appear to focus fundamentally on aligning government resources so that business can be successful (Culpepper, 2003).
References
Adams, D. (2002), Education and National Development: Priorities, Policies, and Planning. Manila,
Philippines: Asian Development Bank and Comparative Education Research Centre.
APEC (2001), Briefing: APEC High Level Meeting on Human Capacity Building. Beijing, China.
APEC (2004), Communiqu: Fourth APEC Science Ministers Meeting. Christchurch, New Zealand:
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation.
Arriagada, A. M. and Ziderman, A. (1992), Vocational secondary schooling: Occupational choice and
earnings in Brazil (Policy research working paper No. WPS 1037). Washington, D.C.: The World
Bank.
Ashton, D., Green, F., James, D. and Sung, J. (1999), Education and training for development in East
Asia: The political economy of skill formation in newly industrialized economies. London: Routledge.
Asia Development Bank (2004), Key Indicators 2003. Retrieved October, 2004, from http://
www.abd.org/Statistics/ki.asp
Bennell, P. (1996), Using and Abusing Rates of Return: A Critique of the World Banks 1995
Education Sector Review. International Journal of Educational Development, 16, 3, 23548.
Calvert, J. R. and Al-Shetaiwi, A. S. (2002), Exploring the mismatch between skills and jobs for
women in Saudi Arabia in technical and vocational areas: The views of Saudi Arabian private
sector business managers. International Journal of Training and Development, 6, 2, 11224.
Castro, C. de M., Schaak, K. and Tippelt, R. (2000), Vocational training at the turn of the century.
Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Culpepper, P. D. (2003), Creating cooperation: how states develop human capital in Europe. Ithaca,
NY: Cornell University Press.
Dore, R., Lazonick, W. and OSullivan, M. (1999), Varieties of capitalism in the twentieth century.
Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 15, 4.
Gill, I. S., Fluitman, F. and Dar, A. (2000), Vocational Education and Training Reform: Matching Skills
to Markets and Budgets. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
Hawley, J. D. (2003a), Comparing the payoff to vocational and academic credentials in Thailand
over time. International Journal of Educational Development, 23, 6, 60725.
Hawley, J. D. (2003b), Vocational-technical schooling and occupational matching in Thailand: Differences between men and women. Paper presented at the Second Asian Conference of Academy of
Human Resource Development: National Policy Perspectives, Bangkok, Thailand.
Hawley, J. D. (2005), Career and Technical Education: An International Review. Unpublished manuscript.
Herschbach, D. R. and Campbell, C. P. (2000), Workforce preparation: An international perspective.
Ann Arbor, MI: Prakken Publications, Inc.
Hotchkiss, L. (1993), Effects of Training, Occupation, and Training-Occupation Match on Wage.
Journal of Human Resources, 28, 3, 48296.
Jacobs, R. L. and Hawley, J. D. (2003), Workforce Development: Definition and Relationship with
Human Resource Development. Paper presented at the Academy of Human Resource Development International Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN.
Johanson, R. (2002), Sub-Sahara Africa: Regional Response to Bank TVET Policy in the 1990s.
Washington D.C.: The World Bank.
Kang, S. H. (2002), Knowledge based economy and human resources development in Korea. Seoul,
Korea: Korea Labor Institute.
Keyes, C. F. (1989), Thailand: Buddhist Kingdom as Modern Nation-State. Bangkok: Duang Kamol.
Kim, G. J. (1994), The relationship of educational expansion and wage differentials in Korea
between 1980 and 1990. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University Graduate
School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Kim, Y. H. (1996), Promotion of the equal access of girls and women to technical and vocational
education in the Republic of Korea. In UNEVOC (ed.), Promotion of the Equal Access of Girls
and Women to Technical and Vocational Education (pp. 15369). Paris: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Lynn, L. H. and McKeown, T. J. (1988), Organizing business: Trade associations in America and Japan.
Washington, D.C.: American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research.
McLean, G. (2004), National Human Resource Development: What in the world is it? Advances
in Developing Human Resources, 6, 3, 26975.
Middleton, J., Ziderman, A. and Adams, A. V. (1993), Skills for productivity: vocational education
and training in developing countries. New York: Oxford University Press for the World Bank.
Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.

Developing human resources for the technical workforce 93

Mincer, J. (1974), Schooling, Experience, and Earnings. New York: National Bureau of Economic
Research and Columbia University Press.
Moenjak, T. and Worswick, C. (2003), Vocational education in Thailand: A study of choice and
returns. Economics of Education Review, 22, 1, 99107.
Neuman, S. and Ziderman, A. (1991), Vocational Schooling, Occupational Matching and Labor
Market Earnings in Israel. Journal of Human Resources, 26, 2, 25681.
Neuman, S. and Ziderman, A. (1999), Vocational Education in Israel: Wage Effects of the VocEdOccupation Match. Journal of Human Resources, 34, 2, 90732.
Orapin, S. (1991), Three More Years in School: Parents Opinions and Problems (1991 Year End
Conference on Educational Options for the Future of Thailand): The Thailand Development
Research Institute.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (1998), Thematic review of the transition from initial education to working life, Interim Comparative Report. Paris: OECD.
Piore, M. and Sabel, C. (1984), The second industrial divide. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Schmitter, P. C. (1979), Still the Century of Corporatism? In P. Schmitter and G. Lehmruch (eds),
Trends Towards Corporatist Intermediation. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
Swanson, R. A. (2001), Human Resource Development and its underlying theory. Human
Resource Development International, 4, 3, 299312.
The World Bank (1991), Vocational and Technical Education and Training. Washington, D.C.: The
World Bank.
The World Bank (2000), East Asia: Recovery and Beyond. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank.
The World Bank (2003), Snapshot of Business Environment. Retrieved May, 2003, from http://
rru.worldbank.org/DoingBusiness/ExploreEconomics/BusinessClimate
Tsang, M. (1997), The cost of vocational training. International Journal of Manpower, 18, 1/2, 6389.
Venter, K. (2003), Building on formal education: employers approaches to the training and
development of new recruits in the Peoples Republic of China. International Journal of Training
and Development, 7, 3, 186202.
Wu, K. B. (1995), The changing worth of a university education: A case study of Hong Kong
during a period of rapid economic and social change, 19761986. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA.
Yang, J. (1998), General or vocational: The tough choice in the Chinese education policy. International Journal of Educational Development, 18, 4, 289304.

94 International Journal of Training and Development

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2005.