The Impact of Hiring Costs for Skilled Workers on Apprenticeship Training: A Comparative Study

Manuel Aepli, Samuel Muehlemann, Harald Pfeifer, Jürg Schweri, Felix Wenzelmann and Stefan Wolter

No 11066, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: This study analyzes the relationship between firms’ costs of hiring skilled workers and their provision of internal apprenticeship training. Our empirical analysis draws on four waves of firm surveys conducted in Germany and Switzerland that include detailed information on firms’ hiring costs for skilled workers and training practices. Using an indicator of labor market tightness as an instrumental variable, we identify a substantial hiring cost elasticity of apprenticeship contracts of 1.4 for Swiss firms. Although we also find a positive and increasing cost elasticity for German firms over time, its magnitude is considerably smaller. Our results are consistent with the perspective that longer-term post-training benefits are more significant in a country with frictions in the labor market and contribute to a better understanding of firms’ training behavior.

Keywords: hiring costs for skilled workers; apprenticeship training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 J24 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The impact of hiring costs for skilled workers on apprenticeship training: A comparative study (2024)
Working Paper: The Impact of Hiring Costs for Skilled Workers on Apprenticeship Training: A Comparative Study (2024)
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