Article 2014

The Effect of the Business Cycle on Apprenticeship Training: Evidence from Germany

Journal of Labor Research
Journal · Vol. 35 · Issue 4 · pp. 412-422
Abstract

The benefits of dual apprenticeship programs are usually discussed in the context of reducing structural unemployment rates, especially among the young. Related to this, the long-run benefits of dual apprenticeship programs are extensively analyzed in the literature. However, empirical evidence regarding the short-run effects of the business cycle on the number of apprenticeships is scarce. In this paper, we use panel-data at the German federal states level ranging from 1999 through 2012 to analyze the effects of the business cycle on the number of new apprenticeship contracts. Using different sample periods and model specifications, we do not find a robust and significant effect of the business cycle on apprenticeships. Hence, the apprenticeship system seems to dampen the volatility of youth unemployment. © 2014, Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Keywords

Author Keywords

education unemployment Hiring Economic fluctuations

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany, Department of Economics, University of Bern, Bern, BE, Switzerland
Department of Cooperative Studies, Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Research Cluster Macroeconomics and Financial Markets, German Institute for Economic Research, Berlin, Germany
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
References 10 References
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