Testing the human capital development model: the case of apprenticeships in Turkey

Human capital theory was developed to study how individual agents make rational choices or how they invest in human capital to maximize their welfare. One of the leading founders of this perspective, Becker, argues that schooling, on‐the‐job training, medical care, migration and searching for information about prices and incomes are different types of human capital as all these investments improve skills, knowledge or health, thereby increasing individual welfare. He states that education and training are the most important investments in human capital. Apprenticeship training is, thus, identified and treated as a type of investment in human capital. At first glance, it seems that apprentices who are being trained are acquiring skills in a specific vocation. One would suppose that the trainees are getting knowledge and skills and that they would become masters in their profession after a long training process. However, further enquiry is needed to see if this is the case in reality. The present small‐scale, exploratory study, based on 20 interviews – 10 with apprentices and 10 with their employers – aims to investigate the apprenticeship training system in Turkey. In doing so, it seeks to test the basic tenets of human capital theory against the facts discovered. The findings, if they could be generalized, suggest that the Turkish apprenticeship system is a form of child labour rather than a training process. Contrary to apprentice training being a human capital investment, the study finds that trainees do not rationally decide to enter an apprenticeship nor are they selected by a meritocratic system. All of them come from poor peasant families or low‐wage working families where the most pressing need is for the child to earn money.     

How Can European uses and Consumers Have Confidence in the Euro? Six Socio-Economic Hypotheses

Chronologically speaking, greater European unity is being established through the introduction of a new monetary and financial instrument. However, this does not mean that the arrival of the euro should be seen as a merely technical operation.The phasing out of national currencies and the acceptance, both intellectual and pragmatic, of a common monetary unit shared by a number of different societies is no simple matter, even in times of peace. The identification and analysis of the major categories of obstacles encountered and of concerns voiced by different groups and populations should guide the different governments in their choice of policies to accompany the transfer to the euro, with attention focused on the most economically, socially or physically isolated individuals. By taking account of the psycho-sociological impact of this monetary changeover, the political authorities will ensure that the spheres of information, communication and "education" are not left entirely in the hands of the commercial and financial institutions.Each citizen will need to build up a feeling of trust with respect to the euro, to learn how to use this new monetary code by creating a new scale of prices and a new set of monetary references. The adaptation phase, whose length will vary for each individual and in each country, will need to be specifically adapted to suit particular national, regional and even local characteristics.