TY - JOUR

T1 - Skills for the Future?

T2 - A Life Cycle Perspective on Systems of Vocational Education and Training

AU - Chuan, Amanda

AU - Ibsen, Christian Lyhne

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - In this article, the authors ask how the institutional design of vocational education and training (VET) affects worker adaptability to changing skill demands over the life cycle. They compare two types of VET systems. Collectivist systems have high employer involvement and focus on specific skills, whereas Statist systems have lower employer involvement and focus more on general skills. Based on prior research demonstrating the importance of general skills in learning new skills, the authors hypothesize that worker adaptability will be higher in Statist VET systems than in Collectivist VET systems. Using a triple-difference model on data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, they find that as age increases, a significantly steeper decline in worker adaptability occurs within Collectivist systems compared to Statist systems. Results provide an explanation behind the diminishing employment returns to employer-dominated VET systems found in prior studies.

AB - In this article, the authors ask how the institutional design of vocational education and training (VET) affects worker adaptability to changing skill demands over the life cycle. They compare two types of VET systems. Collectivist systems have high employer involvement and focus on specific skills, whereas Statist systems have lower employer involvement and focus more on general skills. Based on prior research demonstrating the importance of general skills in learning new skills, the authors hypothesize that worker adaptability will be higher in Statist VET systems than in Collectivist VET systems. Using a triple-difference model on data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, they find that as age increases, a significantly steeper decline in worker adaptability occurs within Collectivist systems compared to Statist systems. Results provide an explanation behind the diminishing employment returns to employer-dominated VET systems found in prior studies.

KW - comparative political economy

KW - education

KW - employment

KW - human capital

KW - older workers

KW - occupational skill requirements

KW - skill-biased technical change

KW - training

KW - worker skills

KW - skill training

KW - MARKET

KW - EMPLOYMENT

KW - COMPUTERS

KW - SCHOOL

KW - WORK

U2 - 10.1177/00197939211015205

DO - 10.1177/00197939211015205

M3 - Journal article

VL - 7

SP - 638

EP - 664

JO - ILR Review

JF - ILR Review

SN - 0019-7939

IS - 3

ER -