IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jns/jbstat/v230y2010i2p186-207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Development of Employers’ Training Investments Over Time – A Decomposition Analysis Using German Establishment Data

Author

Listed:
  • Görlitz Katja

    (Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI Essen), Hohenzollernstraße 1–3, 45128 Essen, Germany)

Abstract

Using establishment data covering the time period 1997 to 2007, this paper investigates trends of employer-sponsored further training in Germany, with a focus on the share of establishments investing in training. In West and East Germany alike, I find a positive time trend in the share of training active establishments. Applying Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition techniques shows that changes in some establishment characteristics affect the trend, however, not only in a positive way.While the increase of the fraction of skilled workers, changes in industry composition and the risen share of innovative establishments contribute positively to the trend, the decreased fraction of establishments engaged in collective bargaining operates in the opposite direction. In spite of these findings, the overall characteristics effect is rather small.

Suggested Citation

  • Görlitz Katja, 2010. "The Development of Employers’ Training Investments Over Time – A Decomposition Analysis Using German Establishment Data," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 230(2), pages 186-207, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:jns:jbstat:v:230:y:2010:i:2:p:186-207
    DOI: 10.1515/jbnst-2010-0204
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2010-0204
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/jbnst-2010-0204?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daron Acemoglu & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 1998. "Why Do Firms Train? Theory and Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 79-119.
    2. Katja Görlitz & Joel Stiebale, 2011. "The Impact of Product Market Competition on Employers’ Training Investments. Evidence from German Establishment Panel Data," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 1-23, March.
    3. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2001. "Continuous training in Germany," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 14(3), pages 523-548.
    4. repec:iab:iabfme:200805(de is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Frank Barry & Holger Görg & Eric Strobl, 2004. "Multinationals and Training: Some Evidence from Irish Manufacturing Industries," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 51(1), pages 49-61, February.
    6. Fairlie, Robert W., 2003. "An Extension of the Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition Technique to Logit and Probit Models," Center Discussion Papers 28425, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    7. Bernd Fitzenberger & Karsten Kohn & Qingwei Wang, 2011. "The erosion of union membership in Germany: determinants, densities, decompositions," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(1), pages 141-165, January.
    8. Ben Jann, 2006. "FAIRLIE: Stata module to generate nonlinear decomposition of binary outcome differentials," Statistical Software Components S456727, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 03 Mar 2023.
    9. Mathia Sinning & Markus Hahn & Thomas K. Bauer, 2008. "The Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition for nonlinear regression models," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 8(4), pages 480-492, December.
    10. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    11. Lisa M. Lynch & Sandra E. Black, 1998. "Beyond the Incidence of Employer-Provided Training," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 52(1), pages 64-81, October.
    12. Weiß, Reinhold, 2003. "Betriebliche Weiterbildung 2001: Ergebnisse einer IW-Erhebung," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 30(1), pages 35-44.
    13. David H. Autor, 2001. "Why Do Temporary Help Firms Provide Free General Skills Training?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(4), pages 1409-1448.
    14. Neubäumer, Renate & Kohaut, Susanne, 2007. "A double hurdle approach for company further training behaviour and an empirical test of this using data from the IAB establishment panel," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 251-269.
    15. Schweri, Juerg & Mueller, Barbara, 2007. "Why has the share of training firms declined in Switzerland?," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 149-167.
    16. Hempell, Thomas, 2003. "Do Computers Call for Training? Firm-level Evidence on Complementarities Between ICT and Human Capital Investments," ZEW Discussion Papers 03-20, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October.
    18. Kuckulenz, Anja & Meyer, Jenny, 2006. "Die Entscheidung über betriebliche Weiterbildungsinvestitionen: Eine empirische Analyse mit dem Mannheimer Innovationspanel," ZEW Discussion Papers 06-089, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    19. Lenske, Werner & Werner, Dirk, 2009. "Umfang, Kosten und Trends der betrieblichen Weiterbildung: Ergebnisse der IW-Weiterbildungserhebung 2008," IW-Trends – Vierteljahresschrift zur empirischen Wirtschaftsforschung, Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (IW) / German Economic Institute, vol. 36(1), pages 51-66.
    20. Thomas Bauer & Mathias Sinning, 2008. "An extension of the Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition to nonlinear models," AStA Advances in Statistical Analysis, Springer;German Statistical Society, vol. 92(2), pages 197-206, May.
    21. Bender, Stefan & Fertig, Michael & Görlitz, Katja & Huber, Martina & Hummelsheim, Stefan & Knerr, Petra & Schmucker, Alexandra & Schröder, Helmut, 2008. "WeLL - berufliche Weiterbildung als Bestandteil lebenslangen Lernens," RWI Materialien 45, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    22. repec:zbw:rwimat:045 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Schweri, Juerg & Mueller, Barbara, 2007. "Why has the share of training firms declined in Switzerland?," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 149-167.
    24. Bender, Stefan & Fertig, Michael & Görlitz, Katja & Huber, Martina & Hummelsheim, Stefan & Knerr, Petra & Schmucker, Alexandra & Schröder, Helmut, 2008. "WeLL - Berufliche Weiterbildung als Bestandteil Lebenslangen Lernens : Projektbericht," FDZ Methodenreport 200805_de, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    25. Schweri, Jürg & Mueller, Barbara, 2007. "Why has the share of training firms declined in Switzerland?," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 40(2/3), pages 149-167.
    26. Hans Gersbach & Armin Schmutzler, 2006. "A Product-Market Theory of Industry-Specific Training," SOI - Working Papers 0610, Socioeconomic Institute - University of Zurich.
    27. Stevens, Margaret, 1994. "A Theoretical Model of On-the-Job Training with Imperfect Competition," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 46(4), pages 537-562, October.
    28. Bellmann Lutz & Gerlach Knut & Meyer Wolfgang, 2008. "Company-Level Pacts for Employment," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(5-6), pages 533-553, October.
    29. Katz, Eliakim & Ziderman, Adrian, 1990. "Shared investment in general training : the role of information," Policy Research Working Paper Series 535, The World Bank.
    30. Giorgio Brunello & Pietro Garibaldi & Etienne Wasmer, 2007. "Education and training in Europe," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03415950, HAL.
    31. Christian Dustmann & Uta Schönberg, 2009. "Training and Union Wages," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 91(2), pages 363-376, May.
    32. Chang, Chun & Wang, Yijiang, 1996. "Human Capital Investment under Asymmetric Information: The Pigovian Conjecture Revisited," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(3), pages 505-519, July.
    33. Alan S. Blinder, 1973. "Wage Discrimination: Reduced Form and Structural Estimates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 8(4), pages 436-455.
    34. Harley Frazis & Maury Gittleman & Mary Joyce, 2000. "Correlates of Training: An Analysis Using Both Employer and Employee Characteristics," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 53(3), pages 443-462, April.
    35. John M. Barron & Mark C. Berger & Dan A. Black, 1999. "Do Workers Pay for On-The-Job Training?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(2), pages 235-252.
    36. Kraft Kornelius & Lang Julia, 2008. "The Causes and Consequences of Adopting a Works Council," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 228(5-6), pages 512-532, October.
    37. Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2007. "Who Pays for General Training in Private Sector Britain?," Research in Labor Economics, in: Aspects of Worker Well-Being, pages 85-123, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    38. Katz, Eliakim & Ziderman, Adrian, 1990. "Investment in General Training: The Role of Information and Labour Mobility," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 100(403), pages 1147-1158, December.
    39. Mark A. Loewenstein & James R. Spletzer, 1999. "General and Specific Training: Evidence and Implications," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(4), pages 710-733.
    40. Bassanini, Andrea & Booth, Alison L. & Brunello, Giorgio & De Paola, Maria & Leuven, Edwin, 2005. "Workplace Training in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 1640, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    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. Stefan Bender & Michael Fertig & Katja Görlitz & Martina Huber & Stefan Hummelsheim & Petra Knerr & Alexandra Schmucker & Helmut Schröder, 2010. "WeLL – Berufliche Weiterbildung als Bestandteil Lebenslangen Lernens – Bisherige Arbeiten und Perspektiven," RWI Materialien, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, pages 20, 08.
    2. Fabio Méndez & Facundo Sepúlveda, 2012. "The Cyclicality of Skill Acquisition: Evidence from Panel Data," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 128-152, July.
    3. Görlitz, Katja, 2010. "The effect of subsidizing continuous training investments -- Evidence from German establishment data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 789-798, October.
    4. Bender, Stefan & Fertig, Michael & Görlitz, Katja & Huber, Martina & Hummelsheim, Stefan & Knerr, Petra & Schmucker, Alexandra & Schröder, Helmut, 2010. "WeLL - berufliche Weiterbildung als Bestandteil lebenslangen Lernens: Bisherige Arbeiten und Perspektiven," RWI Materialien 61, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
    5. repec:zbw:rwimat:061 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. repec:zbw:rwirep:0144 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Katja Görlitz, 2009. "The Effect of Subsidizing Continuous Training Investments - Evidence from German Establishment Data," Ruhr Economic Papers 0144, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.

    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. repec:zbw:rwirep:0087 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Katja Goerlitz, 2009. "The Development of Employers’ Training Investments Over Time – A Decomposition Analysis Using German Establishment Data," Ruhr Economic Papers 0087, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Katja Görlitz & Joel Stiebale, 2011. "The Impact of Product Market Competition on Employers’ Training Investments. Evidence from German Establishment Panel Data," De Economist, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Dan A. Black & Lars Skipper & Jeffrey A. Smith & Jeffrey Andrew Smith, 2023. "Firm Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 10268, CESifo.
    5. Rita Asplund, 2005. "The Provision and Effects of Company Training: A Brief Review of the Literature," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 31, pages 47-73.
    6. John S Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn & Annika Pfister, 2020. "Product market competition and employer provided training in Germany," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 29(2), pages 533-556.
    7. Pfeifer, Christian & Janssen, Simon & Yang, Philip & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2010. "Training Participation of an Aging Workforce in an Internal Labor Market," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-447, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    8. Dietz, Daniel & Zwick, Thomas, 2016. "The retention effect of training: Portability, visibility, and credibility," ZEW Discussion Papers 16-011, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    9. Rao, Neel, 2015. "General training in labor markets: Common value auctions with unobservable investment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 19-45.
    10. Picchio, Matteo & van Ours, Jan C., 2011. "Market imperfections and firm-sponsored training," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 712-722, October.
    11. Marco Caliendo & Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Cosima Obst & Helke Seitz & Arne Uhlendorff, 2022. "Locus of Control and Investment in Training," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(4), pages 1311-1349.
    12. Steffes, Susanne & Warnke, Arne Jonas, 2019. "Determinants of work-related training: An investigation of observed and unobserved firm-, job- and worker-heterogeneity," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-022, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    13. Colleen Flaherty Manchester, 2012. "General Human Capital and Employee Mobility: How Tuition Reimbursement Increases Retention through Sorting and Participation," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 65(4), pages 951-974, October.
    14. Katja Görlitz & Marcus Tamm, 2016. "Revisiting the complementarity between education and training -- the role of job tasks and firm effects," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 261-279, June.
    15. Alison L. Booth & Pamela Katic, 2011. "Men at Work in a Land Down‐Under: Testing Some Predictions of Human Capital Theory," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(1), pages 1-24, March.
    16. Christos Bilanakos & Colin P. Green & John S. Heywood & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2017. "Do Dominant Firms Provide More Training?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 67-95, February.
    17. Giulio Pedrini, 2017. "Law and economics of training: a taxonomy of the main legal and institutional tools addressing suboptimal investments in human capital development," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 83-105, February.
    18. Yanick Labrie & Claude Montmarquette, 2005. "La formation qualifiante et transférable en milieu de travail," CIRANO Project Reports 2005rp-04, CIRANO.
    19. Asplund, Rita, 2004. "The Provision and Effects of Company Training. A brief review of the literature," Discussion Papers 907, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    20. Miriam Rinawi & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2020. "Firms’ method of pay and the retention of apprentices," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 269-291.
    21. Pfeifer, Christian, 2013. "Intra-firm Wage Compression and Cost Coverage of Training: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 80030, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Continuous training; employers; time trends; decomposition analysis; Continuous training; employers; time trends; decomposition analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    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:jns:jbstat:v:230:y:2010:i:2:p:186-207. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    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.