Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of comprehensive education as compared with vocational training by using Swedish data on a large sample of unemployed individuals aged 25 to 55. Design/methodology/approach – The Adult Education Initiative (AEI) in Sweden was...

Compares labour market transitions of young people in Germany and Italy using panel data from the GSOEP and the SHIW. The aim is to investigate whether there are significant cross‐country differences in the patterns of labour market entrance and whether explanatory factors can be identified....

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of comprehensive education as compared with vocational training by using Swedish data on a large sample of unemployed individuals aged 25 to 55. Design/methodology/approach – The Adult Education Initiative (AEI) in Sweden was...

Deplores the paucity of vocational education and training (VET) in the UK, especially for the young, citing bad economics as a major reason for the deficiencies. Examines the priorities which need to be addressed in expanding the system, arguing for full‐time versus part‐time training,...

Compares matched samples of precision engineering plants in Britain and The Netherlands. Suggests that labour productivity levels in British industry are 25‐30 per cent lower than in The Netherlands. This is seen to reflect slower investment in new capital equipment and lower average levels of...

Labour markets in transition: the case of Eastern Europe. In 1989 a political revolution in the Soviet Union and its Eastern Europeansatellites led to the dismantling of Communist controls and transition toward freemarkets in goods and services and factors of production

Purpose – The paper aims to show that active labour market policies in Scotland over a nine-year period have failed to meet key policy objectives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the UK national online manpower information system (NOMIS) to conduct a detailed statistical...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine two aspects of the self-employment adjustment of immigrant groups in the UK. First, how the probability of self-employment for males changes with time since migration relative to the native population and second, how the probability of...

Britain’s New Labour Government has radically shifted its policy aims away from securing traditional full employment towards the improvement of “employability”. This paper briefly assesses what is meant by employability and how the Government has integrated its “supply side” approach...

For the total population there is evidence of substantial over‐education in the sense that workers possess higher qualifications than are strictly required for the job. Using the fourth wave of the British National Survey of Ethnic Minorities, this paper attempts to ascertain whether ethnic...