Occupational mobility within and between skill clusters: an empirical analysis based on the skill-weights approach

This paper applies Lazear\u27s skill-weights approach (2009) to analyze the specificity of skill combinations of various occupations and its effects on occupational mobility and wages. The results show that the more specific an occupation, the smaller the probability of an occupational change. We also identify clusters of occupations characterized by similar skill combinations and find that employees in specific occupations have a comparatively higher probability of changing occupations within a skill cluster than between skill clusters. Moreover, occupational mobility within a skill cluster results in wage gains, while between clusters it results in wage losses. Therefore, the acquired skill combination and the resulting skill cluster, rather than the occupation per se, crucially determines mobility. Thus, for educational policies, it is more important to study whether a skill cluster is sustainable than an occupation. (DIPF/Orig.

The determinants of strategic partnerships in research and development (R&D) - a regional comparison among the German federal states

The systematic co-operation in R&D involving two or more enterprises or companies working with research organisations, suppliers, customers or even competitors has become a popular instrument of strategic management. As new empirical results from the IfM Bonn show, more than a quarter of all enterprises in the industrial sector and the industry-related services in Germany are participating in strategic partnerships of this kind. Strategic partnerships in R&D, which lead to new products or process innovations, have positive effects on a firm´s competitive position. Governmental policy in Germany has recognized its importance for the economy and therefore provides financial aid for R&D-active enterprises. From the perspective of regional science the question is whether R&D co-operations have gained equal popularity all over the country or whether significant regional differences have to be taken into account. This paper examines determinants on enterprises participating in R&D co-operations with particular emphasis on regional influences. Data from a postal questionnaire was taken to form a sample of approx. 950 enterprises located all over the country. To establish the determinants and their relative influence a logistic regression is estimated. Further regional comparisons in R&D activities are carried out by chi-square-tests. The results of the bivariate analyses highlight regional differences in partnerships between enterprises and research organisations. It is remarkable that enterprises in the federal states which have the biggest problems in coping with structural changes, the East-German states, participate significantly more frequently in these partnerships than their West-German counterparts. However, the results of the logistic regression provide no evidence for regional differences concerning R&D co-operations on the whole. Not the location but structural features of the enterprises matter. For instance, plant size is positively associated with R&D co-operation: larger enterprises are more cooperation-oriented than smaller enterprises. Furthermore, the analysis identifies company-specific conditions that enable them to join R&D co-operations. Besides that, emphasis is put, for example, on experiences with other forms of strategic partnerships. The presence of company-owned R&D facilities is another requirement to find a chance to co-operate in most of the cases. Other variables such as the degree of monopoly power or the market structure do not influence the plant´s capacity to join R&D partnerships.

Entrepreneurial Signaling via Education: A Success Factor in Innovative Start-Ups

Unlike traditional start-ups, innovative start-ups and their respective market partners are faced with severe problems of asymmetric information due to their lack of prior production history and reputation. Here, we study whether and how entrepreneurial signaling via education can help innovative entrepreneurs signal their abilities to banks and prospective employees. We argue that innovative entrepreneurs signal their quality by means of certain characteristics of their educational history. In particular, we expect potential employees to use an entrepreneur's university degree as a quality signal when deciding whether to accept a job at an innovative start-up, and we expect banks to use a more precise indicator, namely the actual length of study in relation to a standard length, as a signal when deciding to extend credit to an innovative founder. By contrast, traditional start-ups are not faced with the same problems of asymmetric information, so we do not expect employees or banks to require the same signals from them. We empirically test our hypotheses using a dataset of more than 700 German start-ups collected in 1998/99. All hypotheses are borne out by the dat

The determinants of strategic partnerships in research and development (R&D) - a regional comparison among the German federal states

The systematic co-operation in R&D involving two or more enterprises or companies working with research organisations, suppliers, customers or even competitors has become a popular instrument of strategic management. As new empirical results from the IfM Bonn show, more than a quarter of all enterprises in the industrial sector and the industry-related services in Germany are participating in strategic partnerships of this kind. Strategic partnerships in R&D, which lead to new products or process innovations, have positive effects on a firm's competitive position. Governmental policy in Germany has recognized its importance for the economy and therefore provides financial aid for R&D-active enterprises. From the perspective of regional science the question is whether R&D co-operations have gained equal popularity all over the country or whether significant regional differences have to be taken into account. This paper examines determinants on enterprises participating in R&D co-operations with particular emphasis on regional influences. Data from a postal questionnaire was taken to form a sample of approx. 950 enterprises located all over the country. To establish the determinants and their relative influence a logistic regression is estimated. Further regional comparisons in R&D activities are carried out by chi-square-tests. The results of the bivariate analyses highlight regional differences in partnerships between enterprises and research organisations. It is remarkable that enterprises in the federal states which have the biggest problems in coping with structural changes, the East-German states, participate significantly more frequently in these partnerships than their West-German counterparts. However, the results of the logistic regression provide no evidence for regional differences concerning R&D co-operations on the whole. Not the location but structural features of the enterprises matter. For instance, plant size is positively associated with R&D co-operation: larger enterprises are more cooperation-oriented than smaller enterprises. Furthermore, the analysis identifies company-specific conditions that enable them to join R&D co-operations. Besides that, emphasis is put, for example, on experiences with other forms of strategic partnerships. The presence of company-owned R&D facilities is another requirement to find a chance to co-operate in most of the cases. Other variables such as the degree of monopoly power or the market structure do not influence the plant's capacity to join R&D partnerships

The puzzle of non-participation in continuing training : an empirical study of chronic vs. temporary non-participation

"Although participation in continuing vocational training is often found to be associated with considerable individual benefits, a puzzlingly large number of people still do not take part in training. In order to solve the puzzle we distinguish between temporary and chronic non-participants. Previous studies have shown that training participants and non-participants differ in unobservable characteristics and therefore self-select into training or not. We show that even non-participants cannot be treated as a homogeneous group: there are those who never take part in training (chronic non-participants) and those who are not currently taking part (temporary (non-)participants). Using a unique data set of non-participants commissioned by the German 'Expert Commission on Financing Lifelong Learning' and covering a very large number of individuals not taking part in training, we separate and compare chronic and temporary non-participants. By estimating a sample selection model using maximum likelihood estimation we take potential selection effects into account: temporary (non-)participants may be more motivated or may have different inherent skills than chronic nonparticipants. We find that chronic non-participants would have higher costs than temporary (non-)participants and their short-term benefits associated with their current jobs would be lower. However, in the long run even chronic non-participants would benefit similarly from participation due to improved prospects on the labor market. The results indicate that chronic non-participants either misperceive future developments or suffer from an exceptionally high discount rate, which in turn leads in their view to a negative cost-benefit ratio for training." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en)) Additional Information Kurzfassung (deutsch) Executive summary (English)Weiterbildung, Teilnehmer, Bildungsbeteiligung, Bildungsinvestitionen, Bildungsertrag, Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse, Bildungsökonomie

Works Councils and Learning: On the Dynamic Dimension of Codetermination

This study provides the first econometric analysis on the dynamic dimension of establishment-level codetermination in Germany. We hypothesize that learning implies a change in the nature and scope of codetermination over time. Using unique data from small- and medium-sized establishments, our empirical analysis provides strong evidence that learning indeed plays a crucial role in the functioning of works councils. First, the probability of an adversarial relationship between management and works council is decreasing in the age of the council. Second, the council's age is positively associated with the probability that the council has an influence even on decisions where it has no legal powers. Third, establishment output is increasing in the age of the council. Fourth, the quit rate is decreasing in the age of the council. However, our estimates also provide evidence of a codetermination life cycle

Effects of Training on Employee Suggestions and Promotions in an Internal Labor Market

We evaluate the effects of employer-provided formal training on employee suggestions for productivity improvements and on promotions among male blue-collar workers. More than twenty years of personnel data of four entry cohorts in a German company allow us to address issues such as unobserved heterogeneity and the length of potential training effects. Our main finding is that workers have larger probabilities to make suggestions and to be promoted after they have received formal training. The effect on suggestions is however only short term. Promotion probabilities are largest directly after training but also seem to be affected in the long term.productivity, insider econometrics, human capital, promotions, training

Familienfreundlichkeit im Mittelstand: Betriebliche Strategien zur besseren Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie

Rund 80 % aller Erwerbstätigen haben familiäre Anforderungen zu erfüllen. Untersuchungen zur familienfreundlichen Personalführung aus den 90er Jahren deuteten jedoch darauf hin, dass es vor allem große Unternehmen sind, die Arbeitsplätze familienfreundlich gestalten. Die Überprüfung der Familienfreundlichkeit mittelständischer Unternehmen in Deutschland ist daher Thema der vorliegenden Studie. Auf der Grundlage einer Befragung von 759 Unternehmen sowie von 23 Einzelfallstudien werden die betriebswirtschaftlichen und personalpolitischen Motive sowie der Erfolg der Maßnahmen bewertet. Es werden zudem rechtliche, branchen- und größenspezifische Aspekte diskutiert, welche die Umsetzung familienfreundlicher Maßnahmen in KMU beeinflussen. Das Qualifikationsniveau der Mitarbeiter und die branchenspezifische Ausgestaltung der Arbeitsplätze erwiesen sich als mitentscheidend für die Wahl familienfreundlicher Maßnahmen. Bei Einfachtätigkeiten sind tendenziell kostengünstige Maßnahmen wie Arbeitszeit- und Urlaubsregelungen üblich. Die Bereitschaft, mit höheren Investitionskosten verbundene Maßnahmen in den Unternehmen einzuführen, steigt mit der Qualifikation der Mitarbeiter. In Deutschland wurde wie in anderen EU-Staaten versucht, den Gedanken der familienfreundlichen Unternehmensführung durch Wettbewerbe und Zertifizierungen zu fördern. Die Publikation listet solche Wettbewerbe und Audits auf und stellt dar, warum deren Bedeutung in mittelständischen Unternehmen nur relativ gering ist. Schließlich wird aufgrund der in den Unternehmen gewonnenen Erfahrungen beschrieben, welche Anforderungen an eine erfolgreiche Einführung von familienfreundlichen Maßnahmen zu stellen sind, wie Implementierungsprobleme in den Unternehmen vermieden werden können und welche Rahmenbedingungen für die Erwerbstätigkeit von Familienmitgliedern zu verbessern sind

Works councils and learning: On the dynamic dimension of codetermination

This study provides the first econometric analysis on the dynamic dimension of establishment-level codetermination in Germany. We hypothesize that learning implies a change in the nature and scope of codetermination over time. Using unique data from small- and medium-sized establishments, our empirical analysis provides strong evidence that learning indeed plays a crucial role in the functioning of works councils. First, the probability of an adversarial relationship between management and works council is decreasing in the age of the council. Second, the council's age is positively associated with the probability that the council has an influence even on decisions where it has no legal powers. Third, productivity is increasing in the age of the council. Fourth, the quit rate is decreasing in the age of the council. However, the estimates also provide evidence of a codetermination life cycle