Fabienne Kiener, Ann-Sophie Gnehm and Uschi Backes-Gellner
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-competence—the ability to act responsibly on one's own—and likely nonlinear wage returns across different levels of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-competence—the ability to act responsibly on one's own—and likely nonlinear wage returns across different levels of self-competence as part of training curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors identify the teaching of self-competence at the occupational level by applying machine-learning methods to the texts of occupational training curricula. Defining three levels of self-competence (high, medium, and low) and using individual labor market data, the authors examine nonlinearities in wage returns to different levels of self-competence.
Findings
The authors find nonlinear returns to teaching self-competence: a medium level of self-competence taught in an occupation has the largest wage returns compared to low or high levels. However, in occupations with a high cognitive requirement profile, a high level of self-competence generates positive wage returns.
Originality/value
This paper first adds to research on the importance of teaching noncognitive skills for economic outcomes, which recently—in addition to personality traits research—has primarily focused on social skills by introducing self-competence as another largely unexplored but important noncognitive skill. Second, the paper studies not only average but also nonlinear wage returns, showing that the right level of self-competence is crucial, i.e. neither teaching too little nor too much self-competence provides favorable returns because of trade-offs with other skills (e.g. technical or professional skills). Third, the paper also examines complementarities between cognitive skills and noncognitive skills, again pointing toward nonlinear returns, i.e. only in occupations with a high cognitive requirement profile, high levels of self-competence generate positive wage returns.
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Curdin Pfister, Simone N. Tuor Sartore and Uschi Backes-Gellner
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence for individual educational investment decisions and to investigate the relative importance of two factors, the type of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence for individual educational investment decisions and to investigate the relative importance of two factors, the type of education (vocational vs academic) and subject area (e.g. commercial or health), in determining variance in earnings.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of 1,200 individuals based on the 2011 Swiss Adult Education Survey, Mincer-type earnings equations are estimated. The variance in earnings is decomposed with respect to the two factors mentioned above, which allows to quantify the relative contributions of type of education and subject area to variance in earnings.
Findings
The results of the variance decomposition show that subject area explains nearly twice the variance in earnings compared with that explained by type of education.
Social implications
As results show that earnings variance – and thereby risk – relate more to subject area than to type of education, this study suggests that for individuals caring about the risk of their educational decision the selection of a specific subject area is more relevant than the choice between vocational and academic tracks; in addition, educational policies as part of HRM policies should devote as much attention to the choice of subject areas as to vocational or academic education. This is especially important for companies or countries planning to introduce or to extend vocational education as part of their human resources strategies.
Originality/value
This study is the first to show whether earnings vary more by type of education or by subject area.
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Damiano Pregaldini and Uschi Backes-Gellner
Our study explores the effects of immigration on the employment of native middle-skilled workers, focusing on how this effect varies with the specificity of their occupational…
Abstract
Purpose
Our study explores the effects of immigration on the employment of native middle-skilled workers, focusing on how this effect varies with the specificity of their occupational skill bundles.
Design/methodology/approach
Exploiting the 2002 opening of the Swiss labor market to EU workers and using register data on the location and occupation of these workers, our findings provide novel results on the labor market effects of immigration.
Findings
We show that the inflow of EU workers led to an increase in the employment of native middle-skilled workers with highly specific occupational skills. This finding could be attributed to immigrant workers reducing existing skill gaps, enhancing the quality of job-worker matches, and alleviating firms' capacity restrictions. This allowed firms to create new jobs, thereby providing increased employment options for middle-skilled workers with highly specialized skills.
Originality/value
Previous literature has predominantly highlighted the disadvantages of specific occupational skills compared to general skills in the context of labor market shocks. However, our findings reveal that workers with specific occupational skills can benefit from an immigration-driven labour market shock. These results suggest that policy conclusions regarding the role of specific occupational skills should be more nuanced.
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Uschi Backes-Gellner, Christian Rupietta and Simone N. Tuor Sartore
The purpose of this paper is to examine spillover effects across differently educated workers. For the first time, the authors consider “reverse” spillover effects, i.e. spillover…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine spillover effects across differently educated workers. For the first time, the authors consider “reverse” spillover effects, i.e. spillover effects from secondary-educated workers with dual vocational education and training (VET) to tertiary-educated workers with academic education. The authors argue that, due to structural differences in training methodology and content, secondary-educated workers with VET degrees have knowledge that tertiary academically educated workers do not have.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use data from a large employer-employee data set: the Swiss Earnings Structure Survey. The authors estimate ordinary least squares and fixed effects panel-data models to identify such “reverse” spillover effects. Moreover, the authors consider the endogenous workforce composition.
Findings
The authors find that tertiary-educated workers have higher productivity when working together with secondary-educated workers with VET degrees. The instrumental variable estimations support this finding. The functional form of the reverse spillover effect is inverted-U-shaped. This means that at first the reverse spillover effect from an additional secondary-educated worker is positive but diminishing.
Research limitations/implications
The results imply that firms need to combine different types of workers because their different kinds of knowledge produce spillover effects and thereby lead to overall higher productivity.
Originality/value
The traditional view of spillover effects assumes that tertiary-educated workers create spillover effects toward secondary-educated workers. However, the authors show that workers who differ in their type of education (academic vs vocational) may also create reverse spillover effects.
Simone N. Tuor and Uschi Backes‐Gellner
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rates of return and the risks of different types of educational paths – all leading to a tertiary educational degree. The paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the rates of return and the risks of different types of educational paths – all leading to a tertiary educational degree. The paper seeks to distinguish a purely academic educational path from a purely vocational path and a mixed path with loops through both systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper studies the labor market outcome to compare earnings and calculate net return rates as well as risk measures to investigate whether different educational paths are characterized by different risk‐return trade‐offs. Entrepreneurs are separated from employees in order to examine whether for the same combination of education the labour market outcomes differ between the two groups.
Findings
The empirical results are based on the Swiss Labor Force Survey (SLFS) and demonstrate that mixed educational paths are well rewarded in the labor market. However, for entrepreneurs a high return is also associated with a high income variance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings provide evidence for the existence of complementarities between vocational and academic education. Further research on mixed educational paths might provide more insight into this presumed relationship.
Practical implications
Since the results indicate that mixed educational paths are a worthwhile strategy, the permeability of a national education system is a very important educational policy issue.
Originality/value
The study is innovative in three ways: first, it focuses on complete educational paths and not just the highest educational degree. Second, an alternative measure, the Baldwin rate of return, is used to assess the profitability attached to different educational paths. Third, the income risk associated with each educational path is calculated.
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Jens Mohrenweiser and Uschi Backes‐Gellner
The purpose of this paper is to derive an empirical method to identify different types of training strategies of companies based on publicly available company data.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to derive an empirical method to identify different types of training strategies of companies based on publicly available company data.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a ten‐year panel, the within‐firm retention rate, defined as the average proportion of apprentices staying in a company in relation to all apprenticeship graduates of a company over several years, was analyzed. The within‐firm retention rate is used to identify these companies' training strategies.
Findings
It was shown that companies' motivation for apprenticeship training in Germany is not homogeneous: 19 percent of all companies follow a substitution strategy and 44 percent follow an investment strategy. The determinants of the substitution strategy were estimated and, for example, sizeable differences were found between sectors with different skill requirements and between firms' coverage of industrial relations.
Research limitations/implications
The method is well suited to classify substitution‐motivated training firms but it is less precise in identifying the investment motivation. Moreover, very small firms which train only one apprentice need longer panel duration for precise results and therefore the classification results are less precise for very small firms.
Practical implications
The classification can be used to identify determinants of company participation in apprenticeship training and to predict changes in demand for apprentices.
Originality/value
A simple and innovative method of identifying different types of training motivation with publicly available company data was derived, which has so far been possible only with very detailed company‐specific apprenticeship surveys.
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Audrey Dumas and Saïd Hanchane
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of job‐training programs, initiated by the Moroccan government and called “special training contracts”, on the performance of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of job‐training programs, initiated by the Moroccan government and called “special training contracts”, on the performance of Moroccan firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Two databases (MICT, OFPPT) of Moroccan firms were considered. Matched databases were completed using a questionnaire survey. Panel data with 322 firms from 2001 to 2003 were obtained.
Findings
The paper highlights that “special training contracts” is an efficient measure of public policy. Indeed, job‐training programs increase the competitiveness and performance of Moroccan firms. Additionally, it was shown that firms have different perceptions of the role of public policy. It was emphasised that training effects are higher when training is considered as part of a human resources development strategy. On the contrary, when firms view public policy as just a financing opportunity, they do not get any returns from training.
Practical implications
A better understanding of the role of STC may increase training efficiency.
Originality/value
The case of an emerging country, Morocco, was studied. The conclusion of the analysis could provide solutions linking human resources management to issues of growth and long‐term development.
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Mika Maliranta, Satu Nurmi and Hanna Virtanen
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of labour market outcomes after the initial vocational basic education (ISCED 3).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of labour market outcomes after the initial vocational basic education (ISCED 3).
Design/methodology/approach
A multinomial logit model is used for examining the effect of school resources and other factors on students' post‐schooling outcomes defined as employment, further studies, non‐employment and dropping out. Analysis has been done by using unique linked register data on students, their parents, teachers, educational organisations and business companies in Finland.
Findings
The results indicate that teaching expenditures do not matter but teachers' characteristics have a role to play. Teachers with a university degree increase the employment probability of the students, whereas the formal competence of the teachers does not have such positive effects. The students' characteristics and performance in comprehensive schools play an important role in determining the outcomes. Local business conditions affect the outcomes of boys but less those of girls. The official quality evaluations adopted in recent years seem to pay attention especially to such aspects of education production that are important for providing capabilities for further studies but less so for employability.
Originality/value
Employability seems to be a great challenge to the initial vocational basic education. The findings for local business conditions give support to the view that measures of education policy do not suffice but need to be complemented with those of regional or employment policy, for example, policies aiming to increase regional mobility of the labour force. Such complementary tools are particularly important for boys.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse why small firms provide less training to their employees than their larger counterparts. The hypothesis is that large firms are endowed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse why small firms provide less training to their employees than their larger counterparts. The hypothesis is that large firms are endowed with certain firm characteristics that require more training and with some that allow them to obtain larger returns from this investment.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses the individual contribution of these characteristics to explain the gap between small and large firms in the probability of providing training and its extent using the Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition.
Findings
Small firms face greater obstacles in accessing training and the main reasons for that are related to their technological activity and the geographic scope of the market in which they operate. Together, these variables explain about half of the training gap in both the participation and the quantity decisions.
Practical implications
The limited access to training of small firms prevents them from becoming more competitive by using a tool that would permit a better adoption of new technology and access to foreign markets.
Originality/value
The paper exploits the data on training expenditure and relates this investment with other firms' strategies, such as innovation or internationalization. It also suggests estimating this type of data by means of a two‐part model.