Fuelling Germany’s Mittelstand with complementary human capital: the case of the Cooperative State University Baden-Württemberg

Abstract

While research on universities is well elaborated within the field of higher education, less effort has been made to study other institutions of tertiary education. Complementary to the need of hybrid (specific and general) human capital for German Mittelstand firms, the system of tertiary dual education in Germany has succeeded in hitting two birds with one stone. Though Germany has often been criticized for its low rate of university graduates, the critique has largely failed to acknowledge the differentiation of Germany's dual tertiary education model. By highlighting the case of Baden-Württemberg and its Cooperative State University system, we illustrate the diversity of Germany's landscape of higher education institutions. It appears that the availability of a large pool of tertiary dual educated students contributes in particular to the advantage of Mittelstand firms in Baden-Württemberg.

Hidden champions: a review of the literature & future research avenues

“…So far, the analysis has centred on the historical origins of Germany's Mittelstand (Audretsch et al 2018), the system of vocational education (Lehmann et al 2019;Audretsch et al 2021), the inheritance tax regime, the system of corporate boards, and geographic economics (Audretsch et al 2021) to study the worldwide distribution of hidden champions. Finally, another study investigated the dual system of higher education and the regional distribution of hidden champions in Germany (Schenkenhofer and Wilhelm 2020). Audretsch et al (2018) show that hidden champions predominantly belong to those industrial sectors that served as the leading sectors during the German industrialization in the second half of the nineteenth century.…”

“…They substantiate their assumptions through negative binomial regressions for 217 countries. Finally, Schenkenhofer and Wilhelm (2020) examine the geographical distribution of hidden champions in Germany and find that Baden-Württemberg concentrates most of the hidden champions in Germany. In this context, the authors examine the system of dual higher education in Baden-Wuerttemberg and its capability to stimulate the stock of specific human capital in Baden-Wuerttemberg.…”

Evaluation of Interconnectivity Between Higher Education and Business – Bulgarian Case

“…Lee and Muller (2019) investigated graduates' wages in engineering fields in Germany and Korea and their implications on institutional diversification. Schenkenhofer and Wilhelm (2020) explained the need for hybrid human capital in Germany. They examined the role of dual education in the German state.…”

Hidden champions as a determinant of regional development: An analysis of german districts

“…Hence, HCs need specially trained workers and invest not only in the training and development of employees but also in the education of the trainees themselves. In particular, the dual apprentice system in Germany, which specifically combines theoretical and practical teaching content, is an important pillar of the HC employment strategy (Audretsch et al 2020;Jahn 2018;Lehmann et al 2019;Schenkenhofer/Wilhelm 2020). It systematically ensures the technical competence of the workforce that is necessary to provide high-quality products.…”