Volume 35, Number 2 (Spring) 2000
Lechner, Michael. 2000. "An Evaluation of Public-Sector-Sponsored Continuous Vocational Training Programs in East Germany." Journal of Human Resources 35(2):347-375.
This study analyzes the effects of publicly funded continuous vocational training and retraining programs in the former East Germany after unification with West Germany in 1990. It presents econometric estimates of the average gains from training in terms of employment probabilities, earnings, and career prospects after the completion of training using a matching approach. The data are from the Germany Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). The GSOEP allows the researcher to observe individual behavior on a monthly or yearly basis. The results suggest that despite large public expenditures, there are no positive effects in the first years after training.
Michael Lechner, Professor of Econometrics, University of St. Gallen, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economic Research (SIAW), Dufourstr. 48,CH-9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland, Michael.Lechner@unisg.ch, http://www.siaw.unisg.ch/lechner.
Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Swiss National Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged. I thank the Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung for supplying the data of GSOEP. Furthermore, I thank Achim Fox and Klaus Kornmesser for competent help with the data. I also thank Martin Eichler and participants of seminars at the Universities of Berlin (Humboldt), Frankfurt (Oder), Heidlberg, Hohenheim, Jena, Magdeburg, München, and St. Gallen, at the CENTER in Tillburg, and at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam, as well as participants of the 6th Conference on Panel Data in Amsterdam and the annual conference of the "Verein für Socialpolitik" for helpful comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this paper. Discussions with Bernd Fitzenberger and Hedwig Prey, as well as the comments of two anonymous referees, were also very valuable for revising this work. All remaining errors are my own.
© 2002 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
US ISSN 0022-166X