Access to training and the effective utilisation of skills in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) has long been an area of interest to public policy makers and economic development practitioners. SMEs often lack capabilities and infrastructure to make the most of their human capabilities...

This policy review of vocational education and training in the West Midlands, United Kingdom was prepared within the framework of the OECD LEED project, "Leveraging Training and Skills Development in SMEs". The report identifies ways of overcoming some of the barriers to workforce development in...

This policy review of vocational education and training in East Flanders, Belgium was prepared within the framework of the OECD LEED project, "Leveraging Training and Skills Development in SMEs". The report has contributed to a better understanding of the dynamics in and between SMEs concerning...

Despite the popularity of business training among policy makers, the use of business training has faced increasing skepticism. This is, in part, fueled by the fact that most of the first wave of randomized experiments in developing countries could not detect statistically significant impacts of...

A randomized controlled trial with 945 entrepreneurs in Jamaica shows positive short-term impacts of soft-skills training on business outcomes. The effects are concentrated among men and disappear 12 months after the training. The main channel is increased adoption of recommended business...

This article contributes to the nascent literature on the effect of grade retention in school on later labour market success. A field experiment is conducted to rule out the endogeneity of both outcomes. More concretely, various treatments of grade retention are randomly assigned to fictitious...

A significant body of research demonstrates that teachers and the quality of their teaching are crucial components of student learning. Many teachers in resource-poor environments have limited knowledge, skills, or motivation. Some impact evaluations have shown promising results from...

This report studies coding bootcamps. A new kind of rapid skills training program for the digital age. Coding bootcamps are typically short-term (three to six months), intensive and applied training courses provided by a third party that crowdsources the demand for low-skills tech talent. Coding...