This chapter considers the literature on government-sponsored vocational training for adults, with a particular substantive focus on training provided via active labor market programs and a particular geographic focus on Western Europe and North America. We begin with a discussion of the...

After the German Reunification in 1990, East Germany transitioned from a centrally planned economic system to a market economy. At the time, upskilling through adult education was deemed essential for the successful integration of the workforce into the labor market. Besides substantial...

The Swedish adult education program known as the Knowledge Lift is unprecedented in its size and scope, aiming to raise the skill level of all low-skilled workers towards the medium level. This paper evaluates the effects of program participation on individual labor market outcomes, notably...

Regional inequality in Slovakia is among the highest in the OECD and is increasing. The main reason for regional disparity is the combination of low economic growth and job creation in the eastern and central part of the country and insufficient labour mobility to the west, in particular by...

Training programs for the unemployed typically involve training specific skills in demand amongst employers. In 1997, Swedish unemployed could also choose general schooling at the upper secondary level. This offers a unique opportunity to assess the theoretically ambiguous long-term relative...