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Unwilling to Train? Firm Responses to the Colombian Apprenticeship Regulation

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  • Santiago Caicedo
  • Miguel Espinosa
  • Arthur Seibold

Abstract

We study firm responses to a large-scale change in apprenticeship regulation in Colombia. The reform requires firms to train, setting apprentice quotas that vary discontinuously in firm size. We document strong heterogeneity in responses across sectors, where firms in sectors with high skill requirements tend to avoid training apprentices, while firms in low-skill sectors seek apprentices. Guided by these reduced-form findings, we structurally estimate firms’ training costs. Especially in high-skill sectors, many firms face large training costs, limiting their willingness to train apprentices. Yet, we find substantial overall benefits of expanding apprenticeship training, in particular when the supply of trained workers increases in general equilibrium. Finally, we show that counterfactual policies that take into account heterogeneity across sectors can deliver similar benefits from training while inducing less distortions in the firm size distribution and in the allocation of resources across sectors.

Suggested Citation

  • Santiago Caicedo & Miguel Espinosa & Arthur Seibold, 2020. "Unwilling to Train? Firm Responses to the Colombian Apprenticeship Regulation," Working Papers 1204, Barcelona School of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:bge:wpaper:1204
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    2. Eric Schuss, 2023. "Beyond windfall gains: The redistribution of apprenticeship costs and vocational education of care workers," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 90(359), pages 978-1002, July.
    3. Gustavo de Souza, 2020. "Employment and Welfare Effects of the Quota for Disabled Workers in Brazil," Working Paper Series WP 2023-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    apprentices; human capital;

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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