IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/brjirl/v46y2008i3p431-438.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Survival and Decline of the Apprenticeship System in the Australian and UK Construction Industries

Author

Listed:
  • Phillip Toner

Abstract

The preservation of the apprenticeship system in the Australian construction industry contrasts with its decline in Britain over the last three decades. This decline is conventionally ascribed to changes in industrial structure, specifically a decline in the role of the public sector, intensification of subcontracting and growth of self‐employment. Given that the Australian construction industry has undergone similar structural changes to those in the United Kingdom, this difference in outcome requires explanation. This article suggests that the contrasting outcomes are the result of institutional differences in the organization of the training system, employers and labour between the two countries. These institutional differences are, however, diminishing as arrangements for training and industrial relations in Australia are increasingly fashioned in the likeness of the United Kingdom.

Suggested Citation

  • Phillip Toner, 2008. "Survival and Decline of the Apprenticeship System in the Australian and UK Construction Industries," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 46(3), pages 431-438, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:46:y:2008:i:3:p:431-438
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00680.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00680.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2008.00680.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Steven McIntosh, 2004. "The Returns to Apprenticeship Training," CEP Discussion Papers dp0622, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Hilary Steedman, 2001. "Benchmarking Apprenticeship: UK and Continental Europe Compared," CEP Discussion Papers dp0513, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Linda Clarke & Georg Herrmann, 2004. "Cost vs. production: disparities in social housing construction in Britain and Germany," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 521-532.
    4. Linda Clarke & Christine Wall, 2000. "Craft versus industry: the division of labour in European housing construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 689-698, December.
    5. Graham Winch, 1998. "The growth of self-employment in British construction," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 531-542.
    6. Steedman, Hilary, 2001. "Benchmarking apprenticeship: UK and continental Europe compared," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20098, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Paul Ryan & Lorna Unwin, 2001. "Apprenticeship in the British ‘Training Market’," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 178(1), pages 99-114, October.
    8. Howard Gospel, 1994. "The Survival of Apprenticeship Training: A British, American, Australian Comparison," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 505-522, December.
    9. Phil Toner, 2006. "Restructuring the Australian Construction Industry and Workforce: Implications for a Sustainable Labour Supply," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 171-202, September.
    10. Paul Ryan & Howard Gospel & Paul Lewis, 2007. "Large Employers and Apprenticeship Training in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(1), pages 127-153, March.
    11. Andrew Agapiou, 1998. "A review of recent developments in construction operative training in the UK," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 511-520.
    12. Dan A. Black & Brett J. Noel & Zheng Wang, 1999. "On-the-Job Training, Establishment Size, and Firm Size: Evidence for Economies of Scale in the Production of Human Capital," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 66(1), pages 82-100, July.
    13. Brown, Phillip & Green, Andy & Lauder, Hugh, 2001. "High Skills: Globalization, Competitiveness, and Skill Formation," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199244201.
    14. Linda Clarke & Christine Wall, 1998. "UK construction skills in the context of European developments," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 553-567.
    15. Howard Gospel, 1998. "The Revival of Apprenticeship Training in Britain?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 435-457, September.
    16. Howard Gospel & Jan Druker, 1998. "The Survival of National Bargaining in the Electrical Contracting Industry: A Deviant Case?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(2), pages 249-267, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Coe, Patrick J., 2011. "Apprenticeship Program Requirements and Apprenticeship Completion Rates in Canada," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2011-2, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 27 Jan 2011.
    2. Huasheng Zhu & Kelly Wanjing Chen & Juncheng Dai, 2016. "Beyond Apprenticeship: Knowledge Brokers and Sustainability of Apprentice-Based Clusters," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-17, December.
    3. Zhenshan Yang, 2023. "Human capital space: a spatial perspective of the dynamics of people and economic relationships," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-14, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Phil Toner, 2006. "Restructuring the Australian Construction Industry and Workforce: Implications for a Sustainable Labour Supply," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 17(1), pages 171-202, September.
    2. Jim Campbell & Ailsa Mckay & Emily Thomson, 2005. "How ‘Modern’ is the Modern Apprenticeship?," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 20(3), pages 294-304, August.
    3. Mohrenweiser, Jens & Zwick, Thomas, 2009. "Why do firms train apprentices? The net cost puzzle reconsidered," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 631-637, December.
    4. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schoenberg, 2007. "Apprenticeship Training and Commitment to Training Provision," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0032, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    5. Jan Druker & Richard Croucher, 2000. "National collective bargaining and employment flexibility in the European building and civil engineering industries," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(6), pages 699-709, December.
    6. Andrew Dainty & Stephen Ison & Geoffrey Briscoe, 2005. "The construction labour market skills crisis: the perspective of small-medium-sized firms," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 387-398.
    7. 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.
    8. Josef Fersterer & Jörn‐Steffen Pischke & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer, 2008. "Returns to Apprenticeship Training in Austria: Evidence from Failed Firms," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 110(4), pages 733-753, December.
    9. Gudrun Biffl & Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Ulrike Huemer, 2008. "An der Schnittstelle zwischen Lehrstellen- und Regelarbeitsmarkt," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46990, March.
    10. Rene Fahr & Uwe Sunde, 2009. "Gender differentials in skill use and skill formation in the aftermath of vocational training," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(9), pages 885-889.
    11. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2012. "What Makes Firm-Based Vocational Training Schemes Successful? The Role of Commitment," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(2), pages 36-61, April.
    12. 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.
    13. Giuseppe Bertola & Francine Blau & Lawrence Kahn, 2007. "Labor market institutions and demographic employment patterns," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 20(4), pages 833-867, October.
    14. Andrew Sharpe & James Gibson, 2005. "The Apprenticeship System in Canada: Trends and Issues," CSLS Research Reports 2005-04, Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
    15. Lindahl, Lena, 2011. "Improving the school-to-work transition for vocational students - What can we learn from research?," Working Paper Series 13/2011, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    16. Sofie Cabus & Eszter Nagy, 2021. "On the productivity effects of training apprentices in Hungary: evidence from a unique matched employer–employee dataset," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1685-1718, April.
    17. Steven McIntosh, 2004. "The Returns to Apprenticeship Training," CEP Discussion Papers dp0622, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    18. Andrew R. J. Dainty & Stephen G. Ison & David S. Root, 2005. "Averting the Construction Skills Crisis: A Regional Approach," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 20(1), pages 79-89, February.
    19. Giuseppe Bertola & John Driffill & Harold James & Hans-Werner Sinn & Jan-Egbert Sturm & Ákos Valentinyi, 2013. "Chapter 3: Labour Market Reform and Youth Unemployment," EEAG Report on the European Economy, CESifo, vol. 0, pages 73-94, February.
    20. M. Muya & A. D. F. Price & F. T. Edum-Fotwe, 2006. "Overview of funding for construction craft skills training in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case study of Zambia," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(2), pages 197-208.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:brjirl:v:46:y:2008:i:3:p:431-438. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.