"This paper describes the role of fixed-term employment contracts in the job dynamics of firms in Baden-Württemberg in 2001. Although only 4.4 percent of the workers have a fixed-term contract, more than a quarter of all hirings occur on the basis of such a contract. Fixed term contracts are...

"With the upturn in the economic situation and with the demographic change, the discussion about unfilled vacancies for skilled workers has become relevant again. The report aims to contribute to this discussion with analyses at establishment level. To what extent are establishments having...

"Whilst in applied empirical research, training in general human capital is mainly explained by structural characteristics of firms, this paper introduces business expectations as an additional explanatory factor. Business expectations are strictly time-variate and firm-specific and reflect both...

"Internships are understood as a bridge into scarce employment by young job entrants or students. Using the IAB Establishment Panel, we discovered 600,000 internships in 300,000 firms. The use of internships differs significantly between sectors. They are frequently used in the sale and retail...

"The German dual apprenticeship system has come under pressure in recent years because enterprises have not been willing to provide a sufficient number of apprenticeship positions. An argument that is frequently put forward is that the gap could be closed if more firms were willing to incur net...

"This paper uses new administrative data from the German Federal Employment Agency - the Integrated Employment Biographies Sample IEBS - to assess the impact of a mandatory employment quota for disabled workers in Germany. We use an exogenous change, introduced through the 'Law to Combat...

"The article deals with the impact of uncertainty as regards the retention of trainees completing vocational training programmes on firms' training behaviour. As an alternative to vocational training, the external recruitment of skilled workers is considered via an opportunity costs approach....

"The aim of this study is to analyse and assess the contrasting national skills policies associated with ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) skill supply in Britain and Germany. We also aim to examine the impact of these strategies on firms and to assess the utilization of skills at...

"This paper adopts an economic perspective for an investigation of the correlation between cost-benefit aspects and company decisions regarding training. A differentiation is drawn between the basic decision about whether a company should provide its own training and the stipulation of the...

"This paper uses regional variation in labor markets, the industry structure and the education system to explain the training decisions of firms. Using a representative firmlevel data set, the results show that firms are less likely to provide training if the number of competing firms situated...