Labor market frictions are seen in many extensions of the classical human capital theory as a prerequisite for firms financing general training. The labor market reforms in Germany at the beginning of the millennium have therefore been seen by many as a danger to the firms’ willingness to...

This study analyzes the relationship between firms' costs of hiring skilled workers and their provision of internal apprenticeship training. Our empirical analysis draws on four waves of firm surveys conducted in Germany and Switzerland that include detailed information on firms' hiring costs...

"This paper analyzes training motives of firms and the allocation of productive tasks at the workplace using data from the cost-benefit-survey of the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training for the year 2007 (BIBB-CBS 2007). We distinguish between two training motives, the...