Abstract: ：This paper employs panel data from micro-level surveys of registered impoverished households in Y County in the southwestern border ethnic region from 2014 to 2018, to empirically examine the income effects of vocational and technical education acquisition. The findings reveal that receiving vocational and technical education significantly increases the income levels of poverty-alleviated households in this region. Comparatively speaking, the income-increasing effect of vocational and technical education supply is stronger for households in basin areas compared to those in mountainous or semi-mountainous areas, for larger families compared to smaller ones, for households whose heads farm at home compared to those whose heads are engaged in non-agricultural work, and for households whose heads work away from home for no more than three months compared to those whose heads work away from home for longer durations. Based on these conclusions, this paper recommends applicable policies for improving the supply capacity and standards of vocational and technical education for poverty-alleviated households in the southwestern border ethnic regions.

Key words: vocational and technical education, poverty-alleviated household, income effect, border area in southwest China, heterogeneity