Einkommenseffekte beruflicher Weiterbildung

The claim for lifelong learning or vocational further training is most often set out without having clarified satisfactorily the individual gains which result from training activities. Based on human capital theory, which we extend by arguments from signaling- and game theory, the paper investigates for western and eastern Germany individual returns of training on income with longitudinal data (1996–1998) from the recently available “Mikrozensus-Panel”. A problem in identifying causal training effects is a selection bias caused by unobserved heterogeneity which – using conventional methods – leads to overestimation of the effects. Fixed- and Random-Effects-Models – which we discuss and confront empirically regarding the training issue – present a method for controlling the selection bias. The results show evidence for positive and significant training effects on income, although the actual amount of income growth is low. Whereas no differences by sex were found, separate analyses by age, skill levels and region indicate that not all of the subgroups benefit positively from further training activities. Therefore, the findings relativize the importance of social inequalities in the access to further training for the process of status attainment in general.