Beyond the Incidence of Employer-Provided Training

Abstract

Using data from a 1994 survey of U.S. establishments, the authorsinvestigate how the incidence, content, and extent of employer-providedtraining were linked to workplace practices and characteristics,physical capital investments, and workers' education. Formal trainingprograms were positively associated with establishment size, thepresence of high-performance work systems (such as Total QualityManagement), capital-intensive production, and workers' education level.``General{''} types of training programs in computing and basiceducation were most likely in establishments that were large, were partof a multiestablishment firm, had low employee turnover, or hadhigh-performance work systems. The percentage of workers given trainingwas highest in establishments that had made large investments inphysical capital or had adopted new forms of work organization,especially in the manufacturing sector. These results suggest thatemployer-provided training complements rather than substitutes forinvestments in physical capital and education.