Many university graduates conduct internships before starting to work in a direct-hire job. I analyse the effects of internships on early labour market performance to evaluate whether they enhance or hinder the university-to-work transition. I use propensity score matching to identify graduates...

This paper examines the determinants of the choice of the major when the length of studies is uncertain, by using a framework in which students entering post-secondary education are assumed to anticipate their future earnings. For that purpose, we use French data coming from the 1992 and 1998...

This paper analyses the pattern of training participation in Italy. Employing a new survey conducted on a large sample of individuals, we develop a model of bilateral training choices. In order to distinguish between workers and employers choices, we estimate a structural bivariate probit model...

This paper provides first evidence on the anatomy of human capital externalities arising from both firm-level and regional human capital. Using panel data from German social security records, both at an individual and aggregated at the plant and regional level, I estimate earnings functions...

This paper provides first evidence on the social returns to education from both firm-level and regional human capital. Using panel data from German social security, both at an individual and aggregated at the plant and regional level, I estimate earnings functions incorporating measures of...

There is growing concern over rising economic inequality, the decline of the middle class, and a polarization of the U.S. workforce. This study examines the extent to which low-wage workers in the United States transition to better jobs, and explores the factors associated with such a move up...

Does better access to skilled workers reduce firms' willingness to provide general skills training to unskilled workers? We analyze how the gradual opening of the Swiss labor market to workers from the European Union affected the number of apprenticeship positions that firms provide. We exploit...

The empirical literature on unemployment almost exclusively focuses on the duration of distinct unemployment spells. In contrast, we use a large German administrative micro data set for the time span 1975-2004 to investigate individual lifetime unemployment (defined as the total length of all...