Who Benefits from Training Courses in Germany? Monetary Returns to Non-formal Further Education on a Segmented Labour Market

While many advocate ‘lifelong learning’ as the ideal career model, its impact on workers’ lives is still partly unclear. Especially research on monetary returns to further education has yielded mixed evidence. I argue that a thorough assessment has to consider both the types of courses and the segmentation of labour markets. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study, I test explanations of differing returns to non-formal further education in Germany, a country known for its highly segmented labour market. Results confirm that the returns to short non-formal training courses, which are the most common forms of further education in Germany, differ remarkably between types of courses and segments. Employer-mandated courses yield the highest returns, which is especially pronounced in internal labour markets. Furthermore, there are no returns on closed occupational labour markets. In occupations, where formal credentials are less important, returns to training are present. These results suggest that returns depend less on individual decisions to invest in training and more on the context. Hence, these findings go against human capital explanations and instead support implications of the Job Competition Model and Credentialism, which emphasize the importance of labour market structure

No Future, No Training? Explaining Cross-national Variation in the Effect of Job Tasks On Training Participation

Access to further training among adults on the labor market is unequally distributed. In particular, workers in occupations that are likely to be replaced by machines in the future participate less in training. This is mainly because of the job tasks they conduct: workers conducting routine tasks are more likely both to be replaced and to receive less training. As a consequence, technological change may lead to further polarization on the labor market. However, this trend may be cushioned by educational and labor market institutions. In this article, to assess the impact of institutions, the association between job tasks and participation in non-formal job-related training is analyzed in 24 countries from the first and second rounds of the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Multilevel regression analysis is applied to test the influence of macro variables on the task gradient in training. The results reveal that tasks are important predictors of training participation in all countries. Comparing the effects across countries, it is found that tracking in initial education increases inequality in training participation owing to abstract tasks. Vocational orientation, on the other hand, reduces the effect. Furthermore, collective bargaining coverage decreases the effects of tasks on training, whereas strong employment protection legislation increases them. This indicates that the inclusiveness of lifelong learning is already influenced by the initial educational system. Strong unions and dynamic labor markets further enhance access to additional training among vulnerable workers.Der Zugang zu Weiterbildung auf dem Arbeitsmarkt ist ungleich verteilt. Insbesondere Beschäftigte in Berufen, die durch Maschinen ersetzt werden können, nehmen seltener an Kursen teil. Dies liegt an den von ihnen ausgeführten Tätigkeiten: Beschäftigte mit Routinetätigkeiten werden mit größerer Wahrscheinlichkeit ersetzt und erhalten auch weniger Weiterbildung. Somit kann der technologische Wandel zu einer weiteren Polarisierung auf dem Arbeitsmarkt führen. Dieser Trend könnte von Bildungs- und Arbeitsmarktinstitutionen abgefedert werden. Um die Auswirkungen von Institutionen zu erforschen, wird in diesem Beitrag der Zusammenhang zwischen Tätigkeiten und der Teilnahme an non-formalen berufsbezogenen Weiterbildungen in 24 Ländern aus den ersten beiden Runden des "Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies" (PIAAC) analysiert. Es wird eine Mehrebenenregressionsanalyse angewendet, um den Einfluss von Makrovariablen auf den Tätigkeitsgradienten in der Weiterbildungsteilnahme zu testen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass Tätigkeiten wichtige Prädiktoren für die Teilnahme an Weiterbildungskursen in allen Ländern sind. Im Ländervergleich wird deutlich, dass die frühe Zuordnung zu Schulzweigen die Ungleichheit bei der Teilnahme an Weiterbildung, die durch Tätigkeiten entsteht, erhöht. Eine Ausrichtung auf Berufsausbildung hingegen mindert den Effekt. Darüber hinaus werden die Auswirkungen von Tätigkeiten auf die Weiterbildungsteilnahme durch Tarifbindung verringert, während sie durch Kündigungsschutz verschärft werden. Dies zeigt, dass die Ungleichheit beim lebenslangen Lernen bereits durch das Erstausbildungssystem beeinflusst wird. Außerdem verbessern Gewerkschaften und dynamische Arbeitsmärkte den Zugang von schwachen Beschäftigtengruppen zu Weiterbildung

The Impact of Losing Your Job: Unemployment and Influences from Market, Family, and State on Economic Well-Being in the US and Germany

Losing a job has always been understood as one of the most important causes of downward social mobility in modern societies. And it's only gotten worse in recent years, as the weakening position of workers has made re-entering the labour market even tougher. "The Impact of Losing Your Job" builds on findings from life course sociology to show clearly just what effects job loss has on income, family life, and future prospects. Key to Ehlert's analysis is a comparative look at the United States and Germany that enables him to show how different approaches to welfare state policies can ameliorate the effects of job loss-but can at the same time make labour insecurity more common

Silicon isotopes as a tracer for silicate utilization in the Peruvian upwelling

EGU2011-6081 Natural stable isotopes are a powerful tool in marine sciences to investigate biological processes, such as present and past nutrient utilization. In this study we present the first dissolved silicon isotope data in the upwelling area off Peru, where one of the world’s largest Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZ) is located. Silicon is the most important component required for phytoplankton (diatom) growth, which dominates primary productivity in this region. Stable Si isotopes are fractionated during diatom growth in that the lighter Si isotopes are preferentially incorporated into diatoms with a fractionation factor of -1.1 promille. The Si isotope composition of dissolved silicic acid of the corresponding surface waters is therefore left isotopically heavier. The Si isotope composition, 30Si/28Si, is expressed as δ30Si values, which stand forh deviations from a given standard (NBS28). Investigation of the dissolved seawater Si isotope composition thus provides a measure for the utilization and, combined with information on the Si isotope composition of the water masses upwelling off Peru, it is a measure for the supply pathways of Si to the coastal upwelling centres. Surface waters on the shelf off Peru are mainly fed by the Equatorial Undercurrent, which mainly consists of waters originating from the western and Central Pacific and which has a characteristic δ30Si of +1.5 promille. In areas and during phases of intense upwelling the fractionation of Si isotopes was observed to be weaker due to upwelling-driven supply of less fractionated Si (δ30Si = 1.7 promille, from water depths of around 100-150 m, whereas under weak upwelling conditions fractionation is higher (δ30Si ~3 promille due to a more complete utilization of the available dissolved silicate. The distribution of dissolved δ30Si correlates strongly with particulate biogenic silicate (opal) concentrations in that highest opal concentrations in the surface waters show the lowest δ30Si values thus strongest upwelling intensity. The most extreme δ30Si values in surface waters (δ30Si = 4.5 promille are observed offshore where silicic acid concentrations are nearly zero. Furthermore we compare the δ30Si data with the dissolved nitrogen isotope distribution, which in addition to nitrate utilization is mainly influenced by denitrification and annamox processes in the OMZ. Combined silicon and nitrogen isotope compositions can thus help to disentangle different fractionation processes within the nitrogen cycle

All-electrical measurements of direct spin Hall effect in GaAs with Esaki diode electrodes

We report on measurements of direct spin Hall effect in a lightly n-doped GaAs channel. As spin detecting contacts we employed highly efficient ferromagnetic Fe/(Ga,Mn)As/GaAs Esaki diode structures. We investigate bias and temperature dependence of the measured spin Hall signal and evaluate the value of total spin Hall conductivity and its dependence on channel conductivity and temperature. From the results we determine skew scattering and side jump contribution to the total spin hall conductivity and compare it with the results of experiments on higher conductive n-GaAs channels[Phys. Rev. Lett. 105,156602(2010)]. As a result we conclude that both skewness and side jump contribution cannot be fully independent on the conductivity of the channel.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Gender differences in the choice of field of study and the relevance of income information: Insights from a field experiment

Research consistently reports pronounced earnings differences between men and women, even among the highly educated. This article investigates whether students' responsiveness to information on income returns relates to gender differences in major choices, which might contribute to the persistent gender wage gap. We use field-experimental panel data on students in Berlin (Germany), starting one year before high school graduation. Our intervention comprised information on major-specific returns to college and was provided to students in randomly selected schools. By comparing the major-specific application decisions of "treated" and "untreated" high school seniors, we examine whether, and why, male and female students respond differently to this information. As potential mechanisms behind a gender-specific treatment effect, we analyze the role of gender stereotypes and roles associated with certain job attributes. We find that providing income information on college majors only influences the major choices of male (not female) students with college intention: treated male students on average applied to majors associated with higher mean income. Further analyses suggest that this gender difference in the treatment effect cannot be explained by differential distributions or effects of preferred job attributes

Applying to college: do information deficits lower the likelihood of college-eligible students from less-privileged families to pursue their college intentions? Evidence from a field experiment

Information deficits are considered an important source of why students from less-privileged families do not enroll in college, even when they are college-eligible and intend to go to college. In this paper, we examine whether correct and detailed information on the costs of and returns to higher education increases the likelihood of college applications of less-privileged high school graduates who expressed college intentions in their junior high school year. We employ an experimental design with a randomly assigned 25-minute information treatment about funding opportunities for, and returns to, higher education given at Berlin schools awarding university entrance qualifications. Our analyses show that our information treatment indeed substantially increases the likelihood of treated less-privileged students to apply to college. Our study indicates that our low-cost provision of financial information not only increased their college knowledge but also substantially changed their college application behavior, despite other existing barriers, like economic constraints

Weiterbilden und Weiterkommen? Non-formale berufliche Weiterbildung und Arbeitsmarktmobilität in Deutschland

Politik und Wirtschaft weisen regelmäßig auf die Bedeutung von (Weiter‑)Bildung für individuelle Lebenschancen hin. Ob non-formale berufliche Weiterbildung, also Kurse und Lehrgänge, welche den Großteil der Weiterbildungsanstrengungen in Deutschland darstellen, zu sozialem Aufstieg führen, ist in der Literatur nicht abschließend geklärt. In dieser Studie untersuchen wir den Einfluss von non-formaler Weiterbildung auf Arbeitsmarktmobilität mit Daten des Nationalen Bildungspanels (NEPS) über den Zeitraum von 2009 bis 2016. Die Event-History-Modelle für diskrete Zeitintervalle zeigen, dass betriebliche Weiterbildung entgegen gängiger theoretischer Annahmen, insbesondere der Humankapitaltheorie, eher Mobilität reduziert und somit individuelle Karrierestabilität erzeugt: Konkret wird Abstiegen vorgebeugt (Sicherheitsnetzfunktion); es werden aber auch Aufstiege und Betriebswechsel verringert. Die Befunde legen für die zukünftige Weiterbildungs- und Mobilitätsforschung nahe, Transaktionskostentheorien sowie den Betriebskontext stärker ins Kalkül zu ziehen und betriebliche sowie nicht-betriebliche non-formale Weiterbildung zu differenzieren