Why Some Firms Train Apprentices and Many Others Do Not

Abstract. The latest study investigating the cost–benefit ratio of apprenticeship training for Swiss companies has shown that most apprentices offset the cost of their training during their apprenticeship on the basis of the productive contribution of the work they perform. Given this outcome, it is worth investigating why so many firms choose not to train apprentices. Maximum-likelihood selection models were used to estimate the net cost of training for firms without an apprenticeship programme. The models show, firstly, that non-training firms would incur significantly higher net cost during the apprenticeship period if they would switch to a training policy and, secondly, that this less favourable cost–benefit ratio is determined less by cost than by absence of benefit. For the apprenticeship system as such the results indicate that, as long as training regulations and the market situation permit a cost-effective training of apprentices, companies do not need specific labour market regulations or institutions to offer training posts. In this respect, the Swiss findings might be of interest for the ongoing German discussion about the expected repercussions of a more general labour market deregulation on the apprenticeship training system.     

Determinants of intra-industry trade: Among countries and across industries

Zusammenfassung Determinanten des intraindustriellen Handels: Eine internationale und interindustrielle Querschnittsanalyse. — In der vorliegenden Untersuchung werden in einem kombinierten Ansatz die Hypothesen empirisch überprüft, da\ (i) die Intensit?t des intraindustriellen Handels zwischen L?ndern systematisch mit bestimmten Charakteristika der Handelspartner und (ii) die Intensit?t des intraindustriellen Handels in einzelnen Branchen systematisch mit bestimmten Industriecharakteristika zusammenh?ngt. Als Stichprobe werden bilaterale Handelsstr?me der Jahre 1972 und 1973 zwischen den OECD-L?ndern auf der Basis dreistelliger Positionen der SITC-Gruppen 5–8 herangezogen. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse lassen darauf schlie\en, da\ es in der Regel zu einer Zunahme von intraindustriellen Handelsstr?men kommt, wenn Handelspartner im wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungsniveau oder in der (heimischen) Marktgr?\e aufholen, die heimischen M?rkte von Handelspartnern simultan wachsen und natürliche oder künstliche Handelshemmnisse abgebaut werden. Im Branchenquerschnitt sind intraindustrielle Handelsstr?me insbesondere in jenen Industrien ausgepr?gt, in denen Transaktionskosten eine vergleichsweise geringe Rolle spielen; gewisse Anhaltspunkte deuten überdies darauf hin, da\ die Intensit?t des intraindustriellen Handels mit abnehmendem Standardisierungsgrad des Sortiments zunimmt.

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Résumé Déterminants du commerce intra-industriel: Une analyse transversale internationale et interindustrielle. — Dans cette analyse nous testons empiriquement à l’aide d’une approche combinée les hypothèses que (i) l’intensité du commerce intra-industriel entre des pays dépend systématiquement des certains caractéristiques des partenaires commerciaux et que (ii) l’intensité du commerce intra-industriel dans les branches dépend systématiquement des certains caractéristiques de líndustrie. Comme échantillon nous utilisons le commerce extérieur bilatéral des années 1972 et {dy1973} entre les pays de l’OCDE au niveau des groupes 3-digit de la CTCI 5–8. Les résultats démontrent qu’il y a une augmentation du commerce intra-industriel en général, si les partenaires gagnent du terrain en niveau de développement économique ou en dimension du marché local, si les marchés locaux des partenaires croissent simultanément et si les obstacles commerciaux naturels ou artificiels sont diminués. En section transversale des branches, le commerce intra-industriel est particulièrement prononcé dans les branches oú les frais de transaction jouent un r?le comparativement faible; de plus, certains signes indiquent que l’intensité de commerce intra-industriel augmente si le degré de standardisation diminue.

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Resumen Determinantes del comercio intra-industrial: entre países e industrias. — Este trabajo examina conjuntamente, determinantes especificos de naciones y bienes, que pueden influir sobre la intensidad del comercio intra-industrial, basándose en flujos bilaterales desagregados de comercio entre países pertenecientes a la OCDE. Los resultados son consistentes con las hipótesis de que una equiparación en el nivel de desarrollo o en tama?o del mercado, o crecimiento simultáneo en los mercados nacionales de los países que comercian entre si, o una disminuciń de barreras naturales o artificiales contra el comercio, tienden a ser acompanadas de un incremento en el comercio intra-industrial entre países. A lo largo de las diferentes industrias, este comercio parece ser especialmente intenso cuando los costes de transacción son bajos. Finalmente existe evidencia positiva aunque no definitiva, de que el comercio intra-industrial disminuye con el aumento en la uniformidad de los productos.

     

VII. Erzeugung und Handle,Warenmärkte

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Quits,layoffs, and job destruction

We examine the quit–layoff distinction and its implications for job destruction from the employer's perspective. Using a set of panel data of Dutch firms, we get the following results. First, in addition to layoffs, quits contribute to the speed of downward adjustment of labour. Second, about 22% of the jobs of workers who resigned are destroyed. It is not clear-cut whether these resignations are initiated by employers or employees.     

House price risk and the hedging benefits of home ownership

Using a repeat-sales methodology, this paper finds that estimates of house price risk based on aggregate house price indices substantially underestimate the true size of house price risk. This is the result of the fact that aggregate house price indices average away the idiosyncratic volatility in house prices. Additional results show that the idiosyncratic risk exceeds the hedging benefits of home ownership. These results imply that for many home owners, owning a house may well add more price risk than it hedges away. These findings are based on a detailed dataset of individual housing transactions in the Netherlands.     

A low growth path in Austria: potential causes,consequences and policy options

This paper reports on an Austrian research project that deals with the question how the Austrian society could cope with long-lasting low economic growth. Various causes of low-growth that are relevant for Austria (a deteriorating balance of trade, increasing resource prices, consumer restraint of households and less immigration) have been identified, leading to an only moderate gross domestic product growth of 0.55 % per year. The resulting impact on the economy is substantial: the labour market suffers from a shortage of labour supply (due to reduced migration) and from a reduced demand for labour (due to reduced demand in consumption, investments and exports). Subsequently, less employment decreases the development of the disposable income of private households (tax rates and social security contributions held constant). Related to this, public debt is higher due to reduced tax incomes and slightly growing public expenditures. From an ecological perspective, resource consumption increases at a slower rate, however, no absolute reduction can be reached. CO₂ emissions also slightly increase. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that low growth necessarily leads to the achievement of energy and environmental policy goals. Based on these results, a policy scenario was used to analyze whether and how policy measures are able to cope with the negative consequences of persistent low growth. The results reveal that the selected measures are suitable to reduce negative economic effects: The implementation of reduced working time and an eco-social reform of levies might improve the labour market situation. The negative effects on the national budget can be diminished by a reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies. Induced behaviour changes of private households can reduce energy and resource-intensive consumption.     

The financing of apprenticeship training in the light of labor market regulations

In this paper we analyze the training behavior of firms in Germany and Switzerland — two countries with a comparable apprenticeship system but strong differences in the regulation of their respective labor markets. We make use of two representative firm-level surveys on the provision of apprenticeship training to analyze differences in the costs and benefits of training and the firm's training decision. Our results suggest that firms are more likely to make a substantial (short-term) net investment in apprenticeship training in the presence of strong employment protection laws.     

“I think I can…I think I can”: The impact of perceived selling efficacy and deal disclosure on salesperson escalation of commitment

Salespeople have considerable autonomy in the choices they make with respect to both the types and amounts of resources they deploy in pursuing potential customer accounts and specific sales opportunities. Building from a prospect theory framework and also leveraging self-justification theory, this research reports the results of three experimental studies conducted on practicing salespeople. The experiments help shed light on several factors that might influence a critical form of salesperson resource allocation decision — the allocation of the salesperson's own ‘selling time’ which is devoted to a specific sales opportunity. Study 1 establishes that an escalation of commitment effect exists when salespeople pursue a new customer opportunity, and that “competitive intensity” is a key variable that attenuates the escalation of commitment effect. Study 2 demonstrates that a salesperson's “selling efficacy” – or their confidence in their abilities and decision-making in sales – has important, but mixed, effects on the salesperson's allocation of scarce resources. Finally, study 3 broadens this research by showing that environmental factors such as the extent to which the salesperson has ‘disclosed’ their pursuit of a new sales opportunity within their own organization can also influence the escalation of commitment effect on how they allocate resources in pursuit of that business. The article's broader contribution is that it offers an overdue and preliminary glimpse into the levers which shape and influence how, when, and why salespeople apply resources in the pursuit of new customers.