The Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation

Education, skill formation, and training continue to be important areas of consideration for both public policy and research. This book examines the particular types of vocational training known as collective skill formation systems, whereby the training (often firm-based apprenticeships) is collectively organized by businesses and unions with state support and cooperation in execution, finance, and monitoring. With contributions from leading academics, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of the varying historical origins of, and recent developments in, vocational training systems, offering in-depth studies on coordinated market economies, namely Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Denmark. It also contains comparative chapters that analyse how these countries react to common challenges such as deindustrialization, labour market stratification, academic drift, gender inequalities, and Europeanization. Whereas previous research has focused on the differences between various kinds of skill regimes, this book focuses on explaining institutional variety within the group of collective skill formation systems. The development of skill formation systems is regarded as a dynamic political process, dependent on the outcome of various political struggles regarding such matters as institutional design and transformations during critical junctures in historical development. Contributors to this volume - Karen Anderson, Department of Political Science, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands Marius R. Busemeyer, University of Konstanz Christian Ebner, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Margarita Estevez-Abe, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, USA Philipp Gonon, University of Zurich, Institute of Upper Secondary and Vocational Education, Switzerland Lukas Graf, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Torben Iversen, Institute for Quantitative Social Science, Harvard University, USA Lorenz Lassnigg, Employment-Qualification-Innovation (EQUI), Institut fuer Hoehere Studien(IHS)/Institute for Advanced Studies, Austria Markus Maurer, University of Zurich, Institute of Upper Secondary and Vocational Education, Switzerland Cathie Jo Martin, Department of Political Science, Boston University, USA Moira Nelson, University of Bern, Institute of Political Science, Switzerland Dennie Oude Nijhuis, Leiden University Institute for History Rita Nikolai, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Justin Powell, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin fur Sozialforschung (WZB), Germany Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Germany Kathleen Thelen, Department of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Christine Trampusch, University of Cologne