Relatori: Chiara Mussida (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - Piacenza), Dario Sciulli (Università G. d’Annunzio di Chieti-Pescara).

This study analyzes how first job affects the probability of youth being currently employed in formal or informal work in developing countries. We exploit information from the ILO School to Work Transition Surveys and focus on three southeastern Asian countries, i.e. Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam. The empirical analysis accounts for selection of youth who made their first labor market entry by estimating a two-equation system model with correlated error terms.
Emerging evidence denotes the existence of persistence in less desirable employment status, since having entered the labor market as contributing family workers or own-account workers, increases both the probability of being not employed and the probability of being in vulnerable employment.
Our findings, indeed, indicate that first job matters for later work outcomes, suggesting that achieving an adequate endpoint in the school-to-work transition is relevant to realize better work prospects and, therefore, for many lasting economic and social outcomes.