Apprenticeship Contract Research Articles

Apprenticeships, mobility and wages an investigation on French data

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to estimate the effect of mobility on the apprentices’ wages.Design/methodology/approachUsing a French longitudinal survey concerned with young people’s entry into the labor market and their subsequent employment trajectories, this paper estimates the impact of mobility on post-apprenticeship wages correcting for different selection bias.FindingsMobility is both voluntary and enforced. It combines imposed selection mechanisms and more active match searching behaviors on the part of apprentices. Apprentices who change employer do not have significant lower starting wages than those who remain in their training firms. Nevertheless, in the medium term, those who defer their moves tend to benefit more from their mobility. Those who move immediately see their wage rising less sharply.Practical implicationsThe findings indicate that policy makers should be concerned with job mobility at the end of the apprenticeship contract. Manpower policies should focus on measures that enhance the transferability of accumulated skills and the acquisition of new skills by apprentices.Originality/valueTo the author’ best knowledge, this is the first paper studying the effect of mobility on apprentices’ wages in a dynamic perspective and correcting for the selection of different categories of mobility (immediate vs deferred mobility).

Legal Nature of the Apprenticeship Contract

The qualification of the apprenticeship contract from the point of view of the legal nature is particularly important from the perspective of the rules applicable to labor relations. According to the definition given by Law no. 279/2005 on apprenticeship at the work place, the apprenticeship contract is an individual labor contract of a particular type. The apprenticeship contract is an individual employment contract because the apprentice, in terms of working relations, is subordinated to the employer, and the conclusion, execution, modification, suspension and termination of the apprenticeship contract are made subject to compliance with the Labor Code regulations, and is particular due to the legal characters it presents, but especially the subject of the contract: the provision of work simultaneously with the apprenticeship training in an organized framework, which enables him/her to acquire an occupation at the end of the contractual period.

Failure or Flexibility? Apprenticeship Training in Premodern Europe

Pre-industrial apprenticeship is often considered more stable than its nineteenth- and twentieth-century counterparts, apparently because of the more durable relationships between masters and apprentices. Nevertheless, recent studies have suggested that many of those who started apprenticeships did not finish them. New evidence about more than 7,000 contracts across several cities in three countries finds that, for a number of reasons, a substantial minority of youths entering apprenticeship contracts failed to complete them. By allowing premature exits, cities and guilds sustained labor markets by lowering the risks of entering long training contracts. Training flexibility was a pragmatic response to labor-market tensions.

La terminación del contrato de aprendiz y el abandono en la formación profesional: comparación de desafíos y estrategias político-educacionales en Noruega y Suiza

Vocational education and training, and thus the preparation of young people for the job market in many respects, follows different patterns in Norway and in Switzerland. Both countries, however, struggle with delayed transitions into apprenticeship training, apprenticeship contract terminations and dropouts. In both countries, the lowering of the dropout rate is one of the top priorities in educational policy. The present article examines the challenges and educational-political strategies of both countries regarding the integration of young adults into VET. It is based on a comparison of research literature from both Norway and Switzerland on the transition from school to VET, on apprenticeship contract termination, and on dropout. Despite a great number of non-linear educational pathways, both countries are successful in leading a great number of young adults towards graduation in different ways and with the help of different offers and measures. The strategies of both countries concerning the vocational integration of young adults are discussed in the final conclusion.

The Effects of Youth Labor Market Reforms: Evidence from Italian Apprenticeships

This paper estimates the causal effects of the 2003 reform of the Italian apprenticeship contract which aimed at introducing the “dual system” in Italy by allowing on-the-job training. The reform also increased the age eligibility of the apprenticeship contract and introduced a minimum floor to apprentices’ wages. Using administrative data and balancing techniques we find that five years after hiring, the new contract improves the chances of moving to a permanent job in the same firm, yet this happens mostly in large firms. There are also sizeable long-run wage effects of the reform, well beyond the legal duration of apprenticeships, compatible with increased human capital accumulation probably due to the training provisions of the reform.

A reassessment of the role of guild courts in disputes over apprenticeship contracts: a case study from early modern Italy

AbstractThis article analyses the mechanisms of conflict resolution in apprenticeship contracts using a large database of disputes from early modern Italy. It finds that the guild court under investigation (the Padua Woollen Guild court) did not enforce training contracts, but rather sought to improve on incomplete contracts by adding clauses, thereby helping individuals renegotiate and redefine the contractual arrangements into which they had decided to enter. However, power relations within the court operated largely in favour of employers, both merchants and master craftsmen. The article concludes that alternative contract enforcement systems, such as municipal or state courts, were probably better suited than corporative systems for resolving disputes surrounding apprenticeship.

The Effects of Youth Labor Market Reforms: Evidence from Italian Apprenticeships

This paper estimates the causal effects of the 2003 reform of the Italian apprenticeship contract which aimed at introducing the “dual system” in Italy by allowing on-the-job training. The reform also increased the age eligibility of the apprenticeship contract and introduced a minimum floor to apprentices’ wages. Using administrative data and balancing techniques we find that five years after hiring, the new contract improves the chances of moving to a permanent job in the same firm, yet this happens mostly in large firms. There are also sizeable long-run wage effects of the reform, well beyond the legal duration of apprenticeships, compatible with increased human capital accumulation probably due to the training provisions of the reform.

ПРАВОВЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЯ УЧЕНИЧЕСКОГО ДОГОВОРА

ПРАВОВЫЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ ЗАКЛЮЧЕНИЯ УЧЕНИЧЕСКОГО ДОГОВОРА

Dropouts in Swiss vocational education and the effect of training companies’ trainee selection methods

In the Swiss vocational education system, which is often called a ‘Dual System’, trainees enter into an apprenticeship contract with a training company. On average, 25% of those contracts are terminated prematurely (PCT). This article examines the relationship between training companies’ selection methods and PCTs. The investigation is based on a quantitative study with a cross-sectional design and on qualitative interviews. Trainers and operations managers (N = 335) of Swiss training companies for cooks and painters were surveyed. Half of the companies have been affected by a PCT in the past and the other half have not. The findings indicate that a certain amount of the explained variance between companies with and without reported PCTs can be explained by the companies’ selection process. Companies that were affected by a PCT use a job interview and a company visit significantly less often in their selection process than companies without a PCT.

Is There a Relationship between Training Quality and Premature Contract Terminations in VET?

The dominant organizational form of vocational education and training in Switzerland is the dual-track system, in which trainees sign an apprenticeship contract with a training company. Notably, 10 % to 40 % of those contracts are terminated prematurely each year, depending on region and occupational category, which is an important topic of concern for politics, practice and research. Thus, premature contract terminations (PCTs) are associated with high costs for society, companies, and young people. This study of 335 companies involving cooks and painters from German-speaking Switzerland aims to investigate the relationship between training quality and PCT. Of these companies, 136 had been affected by a PCT, and 199 had not. The results indicate that training at the workplace is universally of rather high quality. In line with the previous literature, trainees evaluate quality significantly lower than trainers. Furthermore, there are considerable differences between the two occupations: cooks evaluate their training quality more positively than painters. Moreover, cluster analyses indicate that high quality training can help companies avoid PCTs.

Staying Within or Leaving the Apprenticeship System? Revisions of Educational Choices in Apprenticeship Training

Summary The decision to revise an educational choice has hardly been analyzed in previous research. Dropping out is only one possible choice, and we distinguish between dropping out (leaving the apprenticeship system) and changing or upgrading (staying within the apprenticeship system) as three possibilities to revise an educational decision, using a dataset that consists of apprentices who have dissolved their apprenticeship contract. We analyze the determinants of leaving apprenticeship training using competing risks models. Dropout decisions seem to be driven by financial considerations such as financial distress, but local labor market conditions seem to have no effect on them. Our findings underline the importance of distinguishing between the different choices instead of focusing exclusively on dropping out.

Minimal Departures: Narratives of Younger Female Mobility in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Italian Children’s Literature

Mobility narratives in late nineteenth- and early twentieth- century Italian literature for children reflect the dramatic conditions of vagrancy, abandonment and forced relocation, as well as the situation of child-labor exploitation and child trade through apprenticeship contracts. They also document experiences of mass emigration. In my essay I intend to: i) acknowledge that children’s conditions have been the object of an extensive multi-disciplinary debate in the 1800s and early 1900s; ii) briefly discuss the specifics of Italian children’s literature and the representation of young male mobility; iii) identify some recurring narrative patterns of female (im)mobility; iv) point to three specific narrative plots that relate the mobility of younger female characters to national-identity and national-development issues; v) analyze two of these narratives, Maria Messina’s Cenerella and Olga Visentini’s La zingarella e la principessina, which were written during or in the aftermath of World War I.

Determinants of Premature Dissolutions of Apprenticeship Contracts and Occupational Segmentation in the Dual System. A Multilevel Analysis with the German Census on Vocational Education and Training

Der vorliegende Beitrag untersucht Pradiktoren von vorzeitigen Vertragslosungen auf Basis eines Kohortendatensatzes zu Ausbildungsvertragen der Ausbildungsanfanger und -anfangerinnen des dualen Systems. Der Datensatz basiert auf den Daten der Berufsbildungsstatistik der Berichtsjahre 2008 bis 2011 und enthalt alle in 2008 von Ausbildungsanfangern begonnenen Ausbildungsvertrage (Anfangerkohorte 2008) in 51 Berufen. Ziel ist es, der vorherrschenden Fokussierung auf die Auszubildenden als „die Ausbildungsabbrecher“ eine alternative Perspektive entgegen zu setzen. Wir argumentieren, dass die Wahrscheinlichkeit einer Vertragslosung auch von Ausbildungsbetriebs- und Berufsmerkmalen abhangt und die berufliche Segmentierung eine erhebliche Rolle fur die Stabilitat von Ausbildungsverhaltnissen spielt. Die Ergebnisse von logistischen Mehrebenenmodellen sprechen fur die Bedeutung von Ausbildungsmarktsegmenten und fur einen systematischen, von den Merkmalen der Auszubildenden unabhangigen Einfluss der betrieblichen Ausbildungsbedingungen, dem Ausbildungsmodell und der Attraktivitat des Ausbildungsberufs fur die Vertragslosungswahrscheinlichkeit. Initiativen zur Senkung von Vertragslosungen in der dualen Berufsausbildung, die allein an den Auszubildenden selbst ansetzen, reichen demnach nicht aus.

Itinéraire d’un graveur à la fin du règne de Louis XIV. Charles Pinon, élève de François Chéron et commis de Nicolas de Launay

The notarial archives of French National Archives offer a valuable resource for studying medal engravers in the modern Era. One apprenticeship contract (1696) between François Chéron (1638-1698) and his pupil Charles Pinon allows to attribute severals medal to this younger engraver at the begining of the 18th century. It offers the opportunity to outline a short biography of this unrecognised artist of the time of Louis XIV, to study know-how transmission, networks and career strategies of protagonists.

Is temporary employment damaging to health? A longitudinal study on Italian workers

Working conditions have changed dramatically over recent decades in all the countries of European Union: permanent full-time employment characterized by job security and a stable salary is replaced more and more by temporary work, apprenticeship contracts, casual jobs and part-time work. The consequences of these changes on the general well-being of workers and their health represent an increasingly important path of inquiry.We add to the debate by answering the question: are Italian workers on temporary contracts more likely to suffer from poor health than those with permanent jobs? Our analysis is based on a sample of men and women aged 16–64 coming from the Italian longitudinal survey 2007–2010 of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. We use the method of inverse-probability-of-treatment weights to estimate the causal effect of temporary work on self-rated health, controlling for selection effects.Our major findings can be summarized as follows: firstly, we show a negative association between temporary employment and health that results from a statistical causal effect in the work-to-health direction, and does not trivially derive from a selection of healthier individuals in the group of people who find permanent jobs (selection effect). Secondly, we find that temporary employment becomes particularly negative for the individual's health when it is prolonged over time. Thirdly, whereas temporary employment does not entail significant adverse consequences for men, the link between temporary employment and health is strongly harmful for Italian women.

Het vroege werk van Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot. Nieuwe genres in de Domstad: 1615-1630

With approximately 350 paintings, eleven drawings and three etches, the familiar oeuvre of Utrecht-born painter Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot (1585-1666) is nothing short of extensive. Numbering 180, his farming scenes comprise the majority of his work, but are generally unremarkable, thereby traditionally establishing Droochsloot as a mediocre, largely unexceptional painter. This article argues that his earlier works (1615-1630), which have not received the attention they deserve in the past, are a testament to the artist's ingenuity and profound understanding of the art market. Archive sources and apprenticeship contracts are absent, but based on stylistic comparison this research suggests that he may have been under the tutelage of David Vinckboons (1576-1629) and at a later date possibly at work in the studio of Frans Francken II (1581-1642). Particularly his early work displays striking similarities with that of both masters. Undisputedly, Droochsloot was in close contact with the artists of the Brueghel school. This Flemish style was not yet known in Utrecht, and was introduced there by Droochsloot. Moreover, in his work he depicted themes that did not have a pictorial tradition in his city of residence. However, Droochsloot does not present himself as an unresisting disciple of the Bruegel school. He adapted the Flemish style to the demands of his birthplace, and made important changes with respect to the works of the Catholic Flemish artists. The principal difference is that Droochsloots primarily aimed to depict everyday life. He made a conscious choice to detach his work from a specific faith, even in those works that represent Christian themes. He furthermore left out any scenes that might be cause for offense. In that respect, he is essentially different from his Flemish colleagues, who took a much more moralistic approach. These unique adjustments were undoubtedly a tactical move that made his work pleasing to a larger audience of buyers. In turn, despite the immense competition in Utrecht and the rest of the Northern Netherlands, Droochsloot was able to support himself as a painter for a considerable period of time.

The Effect of the Business Cycle on Apprenticeship Training: Evidence from Germany

The benefits of dual apprenticeship programs are usually discussed in the context of reducing structural unemployment rates, especially among the young. Related to this, the long-run benefits of dual apprenticeship programs are extensively analyzed in the literature. However, empirical evidence regarding the short-run effects of the business cycle on the number of apprenticeships is scarce. In this paper, we use panel-data at the German federal states level ranging from 1999 through 2012 to analyze the effects of the business cycle on the number of new apprenticeship contracts. Using different sample periods and model specifications, we do not find a robust and significant effect of the business cycle on apprenticeships. Hence, the apprenticeship system seems to dampen the volatility of youth unemployment.

On-the-job-training contracts in Italy: Training or flexibility device?

Abstract The 1997 “Treu Act” reformed the Italian labor market “at the margin”. This paper studies the act's effects on the flows out from on-the-job-training contracts (including both “Contratti di Formazione Lavoro” and Apprenticeship Contracts) into a new labor market status after one year. Applying a multinomial logit model and Fairlie decomposition, our findings suggest that the Treu Reform has shifted firms’ hiring preferences by changing the returns of workers’ characteristics. Moreover, with some differences between “Contratti di Formazione Lavoro” and Apprenticeship Contracts, the Treu Reform involved a substitution between transitions into a permanent job and into a new on-the-job-training contract. Interestingly, following the introduction of the Treu Reform, workers need to accumulate more experience in Apprenticeship Contracts to achieve the same probability of future employment, which suggests that Italian firms value the flexibility characteristics of on-the-job-training contracts more than their training content. The underlying lesson we can draw is that in labor markets with a weak demand of skilled workers, policies aimed at promoting stable employment and avoiding precarious careers should consider the effectiveness of on-the-job training and monetary incentive levels.

Minstrelsy in medieval France

Records in civic archives have afforded scholars valuable insights into the rich and diverse musical activities in European cities during the Middle Ages. These studies highlight the importance of civic music during this period as reflected in the persistent patronage of different institutions, and the significant duties assigned to the highly skilled instrumentalists in their employ. A fresh survey of civic musical patronage in medieval France is, however, long overdue and Gretchen Peters’s comprehensive new monograph is therefore a welcome contribution to this field. In this extensive study, Peters paints a detailed picture of the patronage of minstrels by French city authorities in 1300–1500, as intertwined with political developments. Drawing on the wealth of extant archival sources for over 20 cities across France, Peters’s study is a much-needed addition to research on civic musical patronage during this period. The impressive range of information accrued from newly discovered archival documents such as account books, tax records, employment and apprenticeship contracts, and even property listings and wills, is presented in an easily accessible form: translations of original documents are neatly integrated into the narrative with the original French or Latin texts retained in footnotes for the reader’s reference.

Raytheon wins Cable & Wireless apprenticeship contract

Raytheon wins Cable & Wireless apprenticeship contract