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Are Firm Innovativeness and Firm Age Relevant for the Supply of Vocational Training? - A Study Based on Swiss Micro Data

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Abstract

In this study we investigated the determinants (a) of the propensity of Swiss firms to train apprentices and (b) of the intensity of apprentice training as measured by the employment share of apprentices. Innovation, firm age and competition conditions on the product market are possible determining factors that are especially emphasized in this investigation. In a further step, we analyzed the impact of apprentice training on labour productivity when apprentice training is considered as an additional production factor in the framework of a production function. We found that the skill composition of the employment, innovation activities, firm age, labour costs, capital intensity, and competitive pressures all play a positive or negative role, even if not at the same extent, in determining the propensity and/or intensity of apprentice training. A further finding was that training propensity and/or training intensity correlate negatively with labour productivity.

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  • Spyros Arvanitis, 2008. "Are Firm Innovativeness and Firm Age Relevant for the Supply of Vocational Training? - A Study Based on Swiss Micro Data," KOF Working papers 08-198, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    • Handle: RePEc:kof:wpskof:08-198
    DOI: 10.3929/ethz-a-005582294
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    1. Spyros Arvanitis & Tobias Stucki, 2008. "Training Propensity of Start-ups in Switzerland - A Study Based on Data for the Start-up Cohort 1996-97," KOF Working papers 08-199, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    2. Heinz Hollenstein & Tobias Stucki, 2012. "The 'New Firm Paradigm' and the Provision of Training: The Impact of ICT, Workplace Organization and Human Capital," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 148(IV), pages 557-595, December.
    3. Elena Feltrinelli & Roberto Gabriele & Sandro Trento, 2013. "Do middle managers matter?," DEM Discussion Papers 2013/11, Department of Economics and Management.
    4. Guerrazzi, Marco, 2014. "Workforce ageing and the training propensity of Italian firms: cross-sectional evidence from the INDACO survey," MPRA Paper 56826, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Heinz Hollenstein & Tobias Stucki, 2008. "The Impact of ICT Usage, Workplace Organisation and Human Capital on the Provision of Apprenticeship Training: A firm-level analysis based on Swiss panel data," KOF Working papers 08-205, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
    6. Heinz Hollenstein & Tobias Stucki, 2009. "Determinanten des Angebots an Lehrstellen – Der Einfluss von IKT, Organisation und Humankapital," KOF Analysen, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich, vol. 3(1), pages 79-93, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Start-ups; Training; Innovation; Firm age;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General

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