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The differences between continuing professional education (CPE) and training are examined by presenting a systems view of the factors that make CPE different from training. The authors analyze these differences by discussing scope, stakeholders, control, and occupational mobility. These factors provide a framework for examining differences between CPE and training from an economic perspective. The authors review economic rationales for CPE and discuss how existing training evaluation concepts, such as cost-benefit analysis and return on investment may be adapted to the specific characteristics of CPE. They end by reflecting on the possibilities that the proposed approach offers and list a number of recommendations for further research.

The problem and the solution. The purpose of this article is to (a) present insights from economics on earnings of sexual minorities and (b) discuss the implications for human resource development in terms of career development. In economic research, the focus has been on finding earnings differentials between sexual minorities and heterosexuals. One issue with this approach is whether the standard analytical techniques available in economics, can be applied to the earnings of sexual minorities. A second issue is the relevance of earnings of sexual minorities to career development.

Notwithstanding an impressive research tradition on key skills, no clear statistical criterion exists that is suitable to determine which skills may be considered key skills. This contribution proposes one possible methodology that can be used to identify key skills. Proposing an economic definition of the key skill concept and disentangling the direct and indirect effects of skills on productivity, we develop an empirical criterion for the identification of key skills. We apply this methodology to a dataset of employed vocational education graduates. We find that problem-solving skills, independence, oral presentation/speaking skills, accuracy/carefulness and initiative/creativity may be considered key skills.Skills, key skill criterion,