We provide a new explanation for why firms pay for general training in a competitive labor market. If firms are unable to tailor individual wages to ability, for informational or institutional reasons, they will pay for general training in order to attract better quality workers. The market...

This paper offers an explanation for the evolution of wage inequality within and between industries and education groups over the past several decades. The model is based on the disproportionate depreciation of technology-specific skills versus general skills due to technological progress, which...

In this empirical paper, I use the 1996 wave of the ECHP dataset to investigate the relationship between measures of wage compression and training incidence in 11 European countries. I find that, after controlling for individual factors and country specific institutional differences, there is...

We consider the economic implications of a compressed wage structure which is exogenously determined by institutions. An important feature of our analysis is that human capital is endogenous and can be achieved either as formal education or as informal training within firms after entering the...

We investigate the role of training in reducing the gender wage gap using the UK- BHPS which contains detailed records of training. Using policy changes over an 18 year period we identify the impact of training and work experience on wages, earnings and employment. Based on a lifecycle model and...

Individuals choose to invest in general skills through education or technology-specific skills by working on the job. Technological progress, which occurs randomly across sectors, depreciates technology-specific skills - thus increasing the return to education and generating a precautionary...

A well-established stylised fact is that employer provided job-related training raises productivity and wages. Using UK data, we further find that job-related training is positively related to subsidies aimed at reducing training costs for employers. We also find that there is a positive, albeit...

Using linked employer-worker panel data from Myanmar, we estimate wage returns to workplace training. First, we document a low prevalence of training in manufacturing enterprises. Second, we find the wage premium associated with training of about 7%, which is in the range found in other...

This paper uses panel data and econometric methods to estimate the incidence and the dynamic properties of overskilling among employed individuals. The paper begins by asking whether there is extensive overskilling in the labour market, and whether overskilling differs by education pathway. The...