Abschreibungsraten allgemeiner und beruflicher Ausbildungsinhalte - empirische Evidenz auf Basis subjektiver Einschätzungen / Depreciation Rates of General and Vocational Training Capital - Evidence Based on Subjective Ratings

The computer revolution together with educational expansion has led to dramatic changes in the structure of the workforce and in the organisation of workplaces in the last four decades. These developments should have different impacts on the use of vocational and general skills. This study compares depreciation rates of general and specific training capital among West German workers between 1979 and 1999. In this time the personal computer entered the workplaces and the share of workers with a university degree doubled. Econometric estimates based on respondent’s subjective ratings of the share of training skills applied to the current job indicate that depreciation rates of vocational skills increased significantly. In contrast, there is no evidence for positive depreciation rates among university graduates with general training capital at all. The role of measurement errors in respondent’s ratings for the estimated depreciation rates is analysed with sensitivity tests. The findings lend some support to the view that there is obsolescence of vocational skills in times of rapid technological change and educational expansion.