Håvard Helland

Getting through closed doors? Labour market entry among ethnic minority and majority youth with low levels of formal education

The paper analyses the labour market situation among youth with low or medium levels of formal education. The analyses focus on studying the effects of level of competence, grades and immigrant background. Which factors contribute to labour market success among this group of youth? And which factors may increase the risk of not getting into the labour market? The findings indicate that both achieved characteristics, such as grades and level of competence (‘merits’), and ascribed characteristics, such as ethnic background, are important for their labour market opportunities. Among those with the lowest competence level, the ethnic Norwegians do not fare the best. Else, immigrants with non‐Western background have a higher risk of unemployment and a lower rate of employment than the ethnic Norwegians, but second‐generation immigrants have a better situation than first‐generation immigrants.

Do grades in higher education matter for labour market rewards? A multilevel analysis of all Norwegian graduates in the period 1990–2006

Abstract This paper examines the effects of grades from higher education on labour market outcomes. Economic theory predicts that grades are rewarded in the labour market because employers regard them as an expression of valuable skills or a signal of other sought after attributes. Social closure, however, may give reason to expect no effects. Whether good grades are rewarded in the labour market is thus uncertain. This paper addresses this question by examining whether employers tend to reward good grades in the form of employment and higher income. Previous research has demonstrated that the returns to education vary according to structural–institutional labour market settings. We examined the interaction effects between grades and field-specific characteristics and between grades and sector by analysing data on all graduates in these educational programmes at Norwegian universities and university colleges from 1990 through 2006. The education data are linked with multiple other data sources such as the national tax register and the national employment register. We find that good grades have positive effects on both income and employment and that these effects are influenced by both the type of education and sector.

The Sheltering Effect of Occupational Closure? Consequences for Ethnic Minorities’ Earnings

It has been widely documented that immigrants receive lower earnings than the majority of the population in most Western countries. Previous research has pointed to various forms of discrimination that affect immigrants’ wage rates. The authors discuss whether the source of this wage inequality can be found at the occupational level. In this article, the authors argue that occupational closures reduce within-occupation wage inequality. To test their expectations, the authors use Norwegian register data that span all employees. The results align with their expectations, as both occupational licensing and union density strongly reduce immigrant-majority earnings’ inequality. However, neither certifications nor credentialization reduces the immigrant-majority earnings gap.

Regional Differences in Higher Educational Choice

ABSTRACT This paper examines geographical differences in choice of field in higher education. Formerly, educational attainment differed considerably between rural areas and urban centres. Today these differences are pretty much offset. What kind of education students from different geographical areas pursue is however less well known. This article examines this question. It analyses data from public administrative registers on the entire Norwegian population born between 1955 and 1983. It finds that people who have grown up close to a university more often study at a university, whereas people who have grown up near a university college more often study at a university college. Corresponding differences are found in the choice of educational field.