Works Councils, Collective Bargaining, and Apprenticeship Training

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the effects of works councils on apprenticeship training in Germany. The German law attributes works councils substantial information and co-determination rights to training-related issues. Thus, works councils may also have an impact on the cost-benefit relation of workplace training. Using detailed firm-level data containing information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training, we find that firms with works councils make a significantly higher net investment in training compared to firms without such an institution. We also find that the fraction of former trainees still employed with the same firm 5 years after training is significantly higher in the presence of works councils, thus enabling firms to recoup training investments over a longer time horizon. Furthermore, all works council effects are much more pronounced for firms covered by collective bargaining agreements. © 2014 Regents of the University of California.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Not provided

Index Keywords

training workplace Germany labor relations Cost-Benefit Analysis

Author Affiliations

Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands, Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training, Bonn, Germany

IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, University of Bern, Bern, BE, Switzerland

Economix Research and Consulting, Munich, Germany, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany, Universiteit Maastricht, Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands

University of Bern, Bern, BE, Switzerland

Funding & Acknowledgements

No funding information

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Works Councils, Collective Bargaining, and Apprenticeship Training - Evidence From German Firms

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