The impact of training on the conditional wage distribution in selected service subsectors in Malaysia

Abstract

Human capital theory postulates that human capital investment has positive impact on wages. Training as one of the human capital components is important for providing the workforce with the necessary skills, enhancing workers skills and productivity and hence raising their wages. The objective of this paper is to investigate the degree to which workrelated training affect the location, scale and shape of the conditional wage distribution using quantile regression (QR) approach. Using data from the Workers' Competitiveness Survey conducted in the year 2007/2008, we utilize both ordinary least squares (OLS) and QR regression techniques to estimate associations between work-related training and wages for selected services subsectors in Malaysia. The results show that the association between number of training attended and wages are dissimilar across the five quantiles. The training affects not only the location but the scale and the shape of the conditional wages distribution. We also observe positive and significant training effects as well as symmetrical-sloping profiles across quantiles of the conditional wages distribution.