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On-the-job training and productivity: Firm-level evidence from a large developing country

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  • Liu, Qing
  • Lu, Ruosi

Abstract

We investigate the effects of on-the-job training on firm productivity and wages using a large panel data set constituted of all large and medium size manufacturing firms in China over 2003–2007. We estimate firm productivity carefully with a recent semiparametric method and combine the propensity score matching and the difference-in-differences techniques to estimate the treatment effect of training. We find consistent evidence that i) training helps boost firm productivity and wages; ii) the higher the training expenditure per capita, the higher the increase in productivity and wages; iii) firms benefit more from training than workers. These findings are not sensitive to industrial capital intensity or firm ownership structure.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Qing & Lu, Ruosi, 2016. "On-the-job training and productivity: Firm-level evidence from a large developing country," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 254-264.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:40:y:2016:i:c:p:254-264
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2016.08.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Yao, Yao & Liu, Gordon G. & Cui, Yujie, 2020. "Job training and organizational performance: Analyses from medical institutions in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    2. Li, Sherry Xin & Wang, Shengzhe & Yang, Shuo, 2023. "What is in Local Dialects? A Field Experiment on Social Distance and Human Capital Development in Job Training," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Spyridon Boikos & Mehmet Pinar & Thanasis Stengos, 2023. "Bribery, on-the-job training, and firm performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 37-58, January.
    4. Shadrack Muthami Mwatu, 2022. "Institutions and export performance: firm level evidence from Kenya," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(4), pages 487-506, December.
    5. Salim, Ruhul & Yao, Yao & Chen, George S., 2017. "Does human capital matter for energy consumption in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 49-59.
    6. Qifan Huang & Castiel Chen Zhuang, 2022. "Training, productivity and wages: An investigation of China's manufacturing enterprises in a privatization era," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 269-288, April.
    7. Jiang, Shengjun & Guo, Yilan, 2022. "Reasons for college major-job mismatch and labor market outcomes: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Training; Productivity; Matching;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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