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Apprenticeship, Vocational Training and Early Labor Market Outcomes in East and West Germany

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  • Riphahn, Regina T.

    (University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Zibrowius, Michael

    (Cologne Institute for Economic Research)

Abstract

We study the returns to apprenticeship and vocational training for three early labor market outcomes all measured at age 25 for East and West German youths: non-employment (i.e., unemployment or out of the labor force), permanent fulltime employment, and wages. We find strong positive effects of apprenticeship and vocational training. There are no significant differences for different types of vocational training, minor differences between East and West Germany and males and females, and no significant changes in the returns over time. Instrumental variable estimations confirm the regression results. The positive returns hold up even in poor labor market situations.

Suggested Citation

  • Riphahn, Regina T. & Zibrowius, Michael, 2015. "Apprenticeship, Vocational Training and Early Labor Market Outcomes in East and West Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 8901, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8901
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    Cited by:

    1. Riphahn & Caroline Schwientek, 2015. "What drives the reversal of the gender education gap? Evidence from Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(53), pages 5748-5775, November.
    2. Marco Caliendo & Ricarda Schmidl, 2016. "Youth unemployment and active labor market policies in Europe," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    3. Hans Dietrich & Harald Pfeifer & Felix Wenzelmann, 2016. "The more they spend, the more I earn? Firms' training investments and post-training wages of apprentices," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0116, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    4. Biewen, Martin & (neé Tapalaga), Madalina Thiele, 2020. "Early tracking, academic vs. vocational training, and the value of ‘second-chance’ options," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    5. Luz Adriana Florez & Lina Cardona-Sosa & Leonardo Fabio Morales & Julian Londoño, 2018. "The Returns from Training in Colombia: Evidence from a Longitudinal Survey," Borradores de Economia 1048, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    vocational training; returns to education; school-to-work transition; youth unemployment; transition economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J40 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - General
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

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