IDSR PhD Exit Presentations
Henrietta Appiah: Education Pathways and Labour Market Outcomes in Canada
Thursday, June 11, 1:00-2:00 pm on Zoom
Register in advance for this meeting:
We welcome your thoughtful questions regarding Henrietta's research following the presentation.
ABSTRACT
The introduction of Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform data has opened avenues for data-driven research on postsecondary education. This study employs three complementary empirical approaches to capture different dimensions of labour market outcomes. The first empirical approach employs cox hazard models. The cox proportional hazards models are used to examine the timing of labour market transitions, including the duration from graduation to first employment and the risk of transitioning out of employment after entering the labour market. The next chapter employs the use of quantile regression models to investigate how educational pathways explain earnings across different points in the earnings distribution, allowing the associations of pathways to vary between lower-, median-, and higher-earning graduates. In the final chapter, panel regression models using longitudinal earnings data are estimated to analyze the relationship between educational pathways and earnings trajectories over time.
The results indicate that educational pathways are associated with differences in both employment transitions and earnings outcomes. Survival analyses show variation across pathways in the timing of labour market entry and transitions out of employment, which can be explained by one or more theoretical frameworks. Quantile regression results reveal that the associations of educational pathways vary across the earnings distribution and across different post-graduation horizons, highlighting the importance of examining heterogeneous earnings outcomes rather than relying solely on average associations. Panel regression results further show that earnings differences across educational pathways persist over time.
Keywords: university, college, transfer students, labour market, quantile regression, cox proportional hazard, Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform
Emelia-Naana Baah: Inferring Disability from Occupational Choice: Chronic Illness, Sorting, and Earnings
Thursday, June 18, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
This is a hybrid seminar. Please email idsr@trentu.ca for room location if you would like to attend in person, or register for the Zoom link at https://trentu.zoom.us/meeting/register/F5oz-Y9STRyLrTAeVOVXhQ
We welcome your thoughtful questions regarding Emelia's research following the presentation.
ABSTRACT
This study examines how chronic illness is associated with labor market outcomes by inferring disability from observed patterns of occupational choice rather than relying on self-reported disability measures. The analysis is grounded in a feasibility-constraint framework in which individuals select occupations to maximize expected earnings, subject to constraints related to health, skills, and access to employment opportunities. Within this framework, a chronic condition is interpreted as disabling when it restricts the set of feasible occupations and removes the occupation that would otherwise be chosen in the absence of the condition.
Using pooled data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for the period 2009-2018, occupational choice is modelled using a multinomial logit specification across categories defined by physical task demand, and earnings outcomes are analyzed using log wage regressions. The analysis considers three prevalent chronic conditions—arthritis, diabetes, and heart disease—to examine how differences in functional limitations are associated with occupational sorting and earnings outcomes.
The results indicate that chronic illnesses are associated with heterogeneous patterns of occupational allocation. Arthritis is associated with reduced representation in physically demanding occupations, particularly among individuals with higher levels of education, consistent with reallocating toward less physically intensive work. Among individuals with lower levels of education, such reallocations appear to be more limited. Diabetes is associated with more diffuse patterns of occupational change, suggesting broader constraints on work capacity. Heart disease exhibited an intermediate pattern, with modest shifts in occupational allocation alongside within occupation effects.
Across conditions, chronic illness is associated with lower earnings on average, reflecting both differences in occupational allocation and variations within occupations. These findings are consistent with an interpretation in which health-related constraints operate through multiple channels and access to alternative occupations plays a central role in shaping observed labor market outcomes. More broadly, the results suggest that patterns of occupational sorting provide a useful empirical lens through which to study the labor market implications of chronic illnesses.
Keywords: labor economics, disability, impairment, labor participation, arthritis, diabetes, heart diseases, occupational sorting, wage penalty, econometrics, health economics, statistical method