We seek to understand how institutional factors in the supply of education affect the upper-secondary education choices of individuals, their educational attainment, and labor market outcomes later in their careers. We exploit the variation in the education supply over time across regions.
If the supply of education has an impact on the schooling decisions, then possible regional disparities in the availability of education can introduce inequalities in human capital accumulation between individuals living in different regions. Furthermore, it may boost differences in skill composition between regions. A poor availability of education may also be linked to social exclusion, as participation in upper-secondary schooling is considered crucial for the later success of the individuals. Availability of schooling may also have larger effects on some sub-groups of individuals (low income families etc.) and thus, a deficiency in the local supply of education may further increase the inequality of these groups.
