How quality educational trajectories influence employment and violence in Brazilian municipalities

Abstract

This paper proposes a new educational quality index that tracks students’ academic trajectories in Brazilian municipalities and examines its impact on crime and employment. The index measures the proportion of 17-18-year-old students who achieved sufficient proficiency in the Enem among those enrolled in the 1^st grade a decade earlier. Analyzing two generations, we assess the effects of index variations for graduates between 2009-2014 on employment and violence between 2014-2019. Results indicate that improvements in educational trajectories reduce homicides and increase formal youth employment, with robust effects even in the short term.