Does initial vocational training foster innovativeness at the company level? Evidence from German establishment data.

Autor/inn/en	Matthies, Eike; Haverkamp, Katarzyna; Thomä, Jörg; Bizer, Kilian
Institution	Volkswirtschaftliches Institut für Mittelstand und Handwerk an der Universität Göttingen
Titel	Does initial vocational training foster innovativeness at the company level? Evidence from German establishment data. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Fördert die betriebliche Berufsausbildung die Innovationsfähigkeit von Unternehmen? Erkenntnisse aus deutschen Unternehmensdaten.
Quelle	Göttingen (2021), 21 S. PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (1); PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei (2) Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Reihe	ifh working paper. 2021,30
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Produktinnovation; Auswirkung; Prozessinnovation; Innovationspotenzial; Ausbildungsbetrieb; Innovationsfähigkeit; Wissenstransfer; Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen; Lernende Organisation; Produktinnovation; Prozessinnovation; Ausbildungsbetrieb; Betriebliche Berufsausbildung; Auswirkung; IAB-Betriebs-Historik-Panel; Innovationsfähigkeit; Innovationspotenzial
Abstract	"While an increasing number of conceptual studies postulate that vocational education and training (VET) activities have a positive impact on the innovative capacity of training companies, empirical evidence on the subject remains scarce. This study exploits establishment data from a representative survey of German companies to estimate the effects of firms' participation in initial VET on their innovation outcomes. The results based on linear probability models and instrumental variable regressions with entropy balancing show that the impact of VET activity on innovation is more ambiguous than postulated. Overall, the participation in initial VET has virtually no effect on product innovation and radical novelties. For the total population of all German companies, the positive impact of VET activities is only observable in case of process innovation. However, our results point to significant causal effects on the innovative capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We conclude that companies' participation in the VET system facilitates organizational learning in training companies and knowledge transfer from VET institutions to those enterprises, which are otherwise more likely to be detached from modern technology networks. The paper concludes with implications for policy and research." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2021/3