Apprenticeship, Vocational Training and Early Labor Market Outcomes - In East and West Germany

We study the returns to apprenticeship and vocational training for three early labor market outcomes all measured at age 25 for East and West German youths: non-employment (i.e., unemployment or out of the labor force), permanent fulltime employment, and wages. We find strong positive effects of apprenticeship and vocational training. There are no significant differences for different types of vocational training, minor differences between East and West Germany and males and females, and no significant changes in the returns over time. Instrumental variable estimations confirm the regression results. The positive returns hold up even in poor labor market situations

Women’s Fertility and Employment Decisions Under Two Political Systems – Comparing East and West Germany Before Reunification

Over the last decades fertility rates have decreased in most developed countries, while female labour force participation has increased strongly over the same time period. To shed light on the relationship between women's fertility and employment decisions, we analyse their transitions to the first, second, and third child as well as their employment discontinuities following childbirth. Using new longitudinal datasets that cover the work and family life of women in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) allows for taking into account two political regimes and drawing conclusions about the relevance of institutional factors for fertility and employment decisions. Our results suggest that in both parts of Germany women's probability of having a first child is negatively correlated with both employment and educational achievement. Regarding second and third birth risks, this negative correlation weakens. Analysing women's time spent out of the labour market following childbirth we find that in the East almost all mothers return to work within 18 months after birth. In the West, however, this proportion is much smaller and at the age when the child starts nursery school or school, women re-enter the labour market at higher rates. These results point to a strong influence of institutional circumstances, specifically the extent of public daycare provision. A multivariate analysis reveals a strong correlation between a woman's employment status prior to birth and her probability of re-entering the labour market afterwards

Statuseffekte Beruflicher Weiterbildung Im Spiegel Des Mikrozensus

Insgesamt ergeben die hier vorgelegten empirischen Analysen auf Basis der kumulierten Querschnittdatensätze des Mikrozensus (1989-2004) ein plausibles Bild für die Situation der Weiterbildung in Deutschland. Die Daten stützen den Rückgang der Weiterbildungsbeteiligung seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre, wie er auch im Berichtssystem Weiterbildung vorzufinden ist. Die soziale Ungleichheit im Zugang zur Weiterbildung ist insbesondere nach der allgemeinen und beruflichen Vorbildung ausgeprägt und verstärkt die Unterschiede zwischen den Bildungsgruppen im Laufe des Erwerbslebens. Der Zusammenhang zwischen beruflicher Weiterbildung und dem sozialen Status von Erwerbstätigen ist stark. Er dürfte jedoch in höherem Maße auf unbeobachtete Merkmale der Erwerbstätigen (z. B. Persönlichkeitseigenschaften) oder auf Pfadabhängigkeiten von beruflichen Karrieren zurückzuführen sein als auf Kausaleffekte der Weiterbildung