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General training by firms, apprentice contracts, and public policy

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  • Malcomson, James M.
  • Maw, James W.
  • McCormick, Barry

Abstract

Workers will not pay for general on-the-job training if contracts are not enforceable. Firms may if there are mobility frictions. Private information about worker productivities, however, prevents workers who quit receiving their marginal products elsewhere. Their new employers then receive external benefits from their training. Training firms increase profits by offering apprenticeships committing them to high wages for trainees retained on completion. At those wages, only good workers are retained, which signals their productivity and reduces the external benefits if they subsequently quit. Regulation of apprenticeship length (a historically important feature) can enhance efficiency, as can appropriate subsidies.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Economics Division, School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton in its series Discussion Paper Series In Economics And Econometrics with number 0021.

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Date of creation: 01 Jan 2000
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Handle: RePEc:stn:sotoec:0021

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Cihan Bilginsoy, 2005. "Delivering Skills: Apprenticeship Program Sponsorship and Transition from Training," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2005_01, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
  2. Stefan C. Wolter, 2008. "Ausbildungskosten und -nutzen und die betriebliche Nachfrage nach Lehrlingen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(3), pages 90-108, 08.
  3. Schweri, Juerg & Mueller, Barbara, 2007. "Why has the share of training firms declined in Switzerland?," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 149-167.
  4. Christoph Luelfesmann, 2000. "The Theory of Human Capital Revisited: On the Interaction of General and Specific Investments," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 0659, Econometric Society.
  5. Steinar Holden & V. Bhaskar, 2003. "Wage Differentiation via Subsidised General Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 848, CESifo Group Munich.
  6. Clark, Damon & Fahr, René, 2001. "The Promise of Workplace Training for Non-College-Bound Youth: Theory and Evidence from German Apprenticeship," IZA Discussion Papers 378, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  7. Eichhorst, Werner & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Schmidl, Ricarda & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 2012. "A Roadmap to Vocational Education and Training Systems Around the World," IZA Discussion Papers 7110, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2007. "Apprenticeship Training and Commitment to Training Provision," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0032, University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics (ISU).
  9. MacLeod, W. Bentley & Urquiola, Miguel, 2012. "Competition and Educational Productivity: Incentives Writ Large," IZA Discussion Papers 7063, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  10. Pablo Casas-Arce, 2004. "Firm Provision of General Training and Specific Human Capital Acquisition," Economics Series Working Papers 198, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
  11. Muehlemann, Samuel & Pfeifer, Harald & Walden, Günter & Wenzelmann, Felix & Wolter, Stefan C., 2010. "The financing of apprenticeship training in the light of labor market regulations," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 799-809, October.
  12. Karsten Albæk, 2010. "On the Incidence of Employment Subsidies to Vocational Training," CAM Working Papers 2010-02, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. Centre for Applied Microeconometrics.

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