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Making visible the role of vocational education and training in firm innovation: evidence from Spanish SMEs

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  • Eneka Albizu
  • Mikel Olazaran
  • Cristina Lavía
  • Beatriz Otero

Abstract

The interactive learning model argues the importance of incremental innovation, linked to production activities, and the role in that innovation of qualified workers – including those with a vocational training degree – in opposition to the supremacy of scientific personnel that tends to characterize high-tech industries. However, scarcely any attention has been paid to the role of intermediary workers in innovation processes. This study, based on a survey of 1142 Spanish industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), examines the degree to which technicians and employees with a vocational education and training (VET) profile are represented in these firms and their involvement in innovation activities. In order to identify the importance of the factors studied in a multivariate model, a binary logistic regression was performed with an index of VET workers’ participation as a dependent variable, segmenting the companies by technological level. The study shows that for sectors with greatest R&D intensity, the presence of VET personnel in technical posts and the existence of external co-operation in innovation were found to triple the probability of greater participation. In more low-tech sectors, these variables continue to exercise a strong influence, but the multiplier effect of another two has also been detected, specifically the innovative capacity of the company and a greater level of involvement of operators in organizational learning practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Eneka Albizu & Mikel Olazaran & Cristina Lavía & Beatriz Otero, 2017. "Making visible the role of vocational education and training in firm innovation: evidence from Spanish SMEs," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(11), pages 2057-2075, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:25:y:2017:i:11:p:2057-2075
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2017.1281231
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Phillip Toner, 2011. "Workforce Skills and Innovation: An Overview of Major Themes in the Literature," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2011/1, OECD Publishing.
    2. Phillip Toner, 2011. "Workforce Skills and Innovation: An Overview of Major Themes in the Literature," OECD Education Working Papers 55, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Prokop, Viktor & Hajek, Petr & Stejskal, Jan, 2021. "Configuration Paths to Efficient National Innovation Ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    2. Eike Matthies & Katarzyna Haverkamp & Jörg Thomä & Kilian Bizer, 2024. "Does Initial Vocational Training Foster Innovativeness at the Company Level? Evidence from German Establishment Data," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(4), pages 17048-17076, December.
    3. J. Eduardo Ibarra-Olivo & Thomas Neise & Moritz Breul & Jöran Wrana, 2024. "FDI and human capital development: a tale of two Southeast Asian economies," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 7(3), pages 314-336, September.
    4. Daniel Feser, 2023. "Innovation intermediaries revised: a systematic literature review on innovation intermediaries’ role for knowledge sharing," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(5), pages 1827-1862, July.
    5. Matthies, Eike & Thomä, Jörg, 2025. "Task allocation and innovation: Revisiting the role of vocational education and training in manufacturing firms," ifh Working Papers 47/2025, Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen (ifh).

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