The Relationship Between Establishment Training and the Retention of Older Workers: Evidence from Germany

Peter B. Berg (), Mary K. Hamman (), Matthew Piszczek () and Christopher Ruhm
Additional contact information
Peter B. Berg: Michigan State University
Mary K. Hamman: University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
Matthew Piszczek: University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

No 9508, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: In the coming years, a substantial portion of Germany's workforce will retire, making it difficult for businesses to meet human capital needs. Training older workers may be a successful strategy for managing this demographic transition. This study examines relationships between establishment training programs, wages, and retirement among older men and women. Using unique matched establishment-employee data from Germany, the authors find that when establishments offer special training programs targeted at older workers, women – and especially lower wage women – are less likely to retire. Results suggest this relationship may be due to greater wage growth. For men, findings suggest establishment offer of inclusion in standard training programs may improve retention of low wage men, but analysis of pre-existing differences in establishment retirement patterns suggests this relationship may not be causal. Our research suggests targeted training programs likely play an important role in retaining and advancing careers of low wage older women.

Keywords: establishment training; retirement; workforce training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J20 J24 J26 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48 pages
Date: 2015-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-eur, nep-hrm and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published as 'The relationship between employer-provided training and the retention of older workers: Evidence from Germany' in: International Labour Review, 2017, 156 (3-4), 495-523

Downloads: (external link)
https://docs.iza.org/dp9508.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Working Paper: The Relationship between Establishment Training and the Retention of Older Workers: Evidence from Germany (2015)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9508

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Holger Hinte ().