Article Green Open Access 2017

The effect of choice options in training curricula on the demand for and supply of apprentices

JA
Jansen, Anika
 DG
De Grip, Andries
 KB
Kriechel, Ben
Economics of Education Review
Journal · Vol. 57 · pp. 52-65
Abstract

Building on Lazear's skill weights approach, we study the effect of having more or less heterogeneity in the training curriculum on the demand for and supply of apprentices. Modernizations of training curricula provide us with a quasi-experimental setting as these modernizations can be seen as a relatively exogenous shock. We argue that firms will train more apprentices when they have more choice options in the training curriculum because of (1) the higher productivity of graduates who have acquired more skills that are relevant for the firm, and (2) firms’ higher market power in the wage bargaining process with graduates. We test this hypothesis on data on the demand for apprentices in Germany in all occupations from 2004 to 2014. We find that a more heterogeneous curriculum increases both firms’ demand for and the supply of apprentices. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

Author Keywords

human capital Apprenticeships Curricula Demand for schooling Firm-specific training Supply of schooling

Index Keywords

human capital training curriculum occupation Germany demand analysis Modernization
Author Affiliations
Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, Maastricht, Netherlands, Schaumburg-Lippe-Straße 5-9, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, BIBB, Bonn, Germany, Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, Maastricht, Netherlands
Maastricht University School of Business and Economics, Maastricht, Netherlands, Economix Research and Consulting, Munich, Germany
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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