How specific is apprenticeship training? Evidence from inter-firm and occupational mobility after graduation

Barbara Mueller and Jürg Schweri

Oxford Economic Papers, 2015, vol. 67, issue 4, 1057-1077

Abstract: Do apprenticeships convey mainly general or also firm- and occupation-specific human capital? Specific human capital may allow for specialization gains, but may also lead to allocative inefficiency due to mobility barriers. We analyse the case of Switzerland, which combines a comprehensive, high-quality apprenticeship system with a lightly regulated labour market. To assess human capital transferability after standardized firm-based apprenticeship training, we analyse inter-firm and occupational mobility and their effects on post-training wages. Using a longitudinal data set based on the PISA 2000 survey, we find high inter-firm and low occupational mobility within one year after graduation. Accounting for endogenous changes, we find a negative effect of occupation changes on wages, but no significant wage effect for firm changes. This indicates that occupation-specific human capital is an important component of apprenticeship training and that skills are highly transferable within an occupational field.

Date: 2015
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Working Paper: The returns to occupation-specific human capital - Evidence from mobility after training (2012)
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