Are the More Educated Receiving More Training? Evidence from Thailand

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. This paper investigates the relationship between education and training provided by the firm, both on the job and off the job, using a unique dataset based on a survey of Thai employees conducted in the summer of 2001. We find a significant and negative relationship between educational attainment and on the job training and no significant relationship between education and off the job training. We also find that education and training are technical complements, especially in the case of off the job training. These findings are consistent with more educated individuals having higher marginal costs of training than less educated workers, especially where on the job training is concerned. Either the better educated have lower learning skills in jobs requiring on the job training or they have higher opportunity costs of training, or both. Terms of use: Documents in EconStor mayKeywords: Training, education, wages ,QWURGXFWLRQThe economic literature emphasizes strongly the importance of schooling in increasing productivity, improving health and nutrition and reducing fertility (see Behrman [1987]). Schooling can affect productivity both directly, by improving basic skills, and indirectly, by affecting training. Do the better educated receive by firms more or less training? A positive association between education and training has two implications. If the more educated also receive more training, both on the job and off the job, an increase in the average level of educational attainment leads to even higher human capital and productivity. On the other hand, initial individual differences in the level of human capital are bound to widen in the labor market.The economic literature does not provide a clear-cut answer to the question above. A strand of literature going back to the mid 1970s argues in a rather informal way that more education leads to more training. According to Thurow [1975] and Rosen [1976], education improves learning skills, thereby reducing (marginal) training costs. Since optimal investment in training obtains when marginal costs are equal to marginal benefits, a reduction in marginal costs given marginal benefits increases investment. A more recent strand does not fully support this view. According to Sicherman [1990] and Hersch [1991], over -educated individuals receive less on the job training than individuals with less education. This happens because the over -educated are less willing, or less able, to learn, which increases (marginal) c...

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