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The Economic Pay-Offs to Informal Training: Evidence from Routine Service Work

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  • Xiangmin Liu
  • Rosemary Batt

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between informal training and job performance among 2,803 telephone operators in a large unionized U.S. telecommunications company. The authors analyze individual-level data on monthly training hours and job performance over a five-month period in 2001 as provided by the company's electronic monitoring system. The results indicate that the receipt of informal training was associated with higher productivity over time, when unobserved individual heterogeneity is taken into account. Workers with lower pre-training proficiency showed greater improvements over time than did those with higher pre-training proficiency. Finally, whether the trainer was a supervisor or a peer also mattered: workers with below-average pre-training proficiency achieved greater productivity gains through supervisor training, while workers with average pre-training proficiency achieved greater productivity gains through peer training.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiangmin Liu & Rosemary Batt, 2007. "The Economic Pay-Offs to Informal Training: Evidence from Routine Service Work," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(1), pages 75-89, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ilrrev:v:61:y:2007:i:1:p:75-89
    DOI: 10.1177/001979390706100104
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nathalie Greenan & Pierre-Jean Messe, 2018. "Transmission of vocational skills in the second part of careers: the effect of ICT and management changes," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 52(1), pages 1-16, December.
    2. Sauermann, Jan, 2015. "Worker Reciprocity and the Returns to Training: Evidence from a Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 9179, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Bernd Fitzenberger & Grit Muehler, 2015. "Dips and Floors in Workplace Training: Gender Differences and Supervisors," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 62(4), pages 400-429, September.
    4. 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.
    5. Collewet, Marion & Sauermann, Jan, 2017. "Working hours and productivity," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 96-106.
    6. W. David Allen & William P. Curington, 2018. "Managerial time constraints and young worker productivity: Natural experiments with NFL rookies," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(2), pages 180-199, March.
    7. De Grip, Andries & Sauermann, Jan & Sieben, Inge, 2016. "The role of peers in estimating tenure-performance profiles: Evidence from personnel data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PA), pages 39-54.
    8. Christiane Hinerasky & Rene Fahr, 2014. "Learning Outcomes, Feedback, and the Performance Effects of a Training Program," Working Papers Dissertations 16, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    9. Sauermann, Jan, 2014. "The Heterogeneous Effects of Bonus Pay on Performance Outcomes: Evidence from Personnel Data," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100568, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Erica L. Plambeck & Terry A. Taylor, 2016. "Supplier Evasion of a Buyer’s Audit: Implications for Motivating Supplier Social and Environmental Responsibility," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 18(2), pages 184-197, May.

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