This article addresses cross‐country and cross‐period differences in average levels of training activity from an institutional perspective. Firm‐provided training in Europe between 1999 and 2010 is scrutinized in order to explore whether diverse institutional arrangements that can be linked to welfare state regimes can yield discernible cross‐country patterns. An emphasis is placed on the limits of national skills strategies that are not well embedded in wider institutional environments. This is grounded in a view that policy efforts to influence training activity, involves nothing less than ‘reforming’ societies. Insights of this research should contribute both to a critical reflection of the EU's targets in the field of lifelong learning as well as supporting policy learning between member states.

Ungeachtet der fortdauernden Liberalisierungs- und Desorganisierungsprozesse in allen kapitalistischen Ökonomien weist der österreichische Korporatismus eine erstaunliche Resilienz über  verschiedene institutionelle Felder auf. Der Aufsatz fokussiert auf die Rolle von sozialen Akteuren in der (Re-)Produktion oder dem Wandel von institutionellen Strukturen und Praktiken des österreichischen Korporatismus. In den vier untersuchten Feldern, d.h. der Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik, kollektiver Lohnverhandlungen, der Arbeitsbeziehungen auf Betriebsebene und der beruflichen Aus- und Weiterbildung, haben kollektive Akteure nicht zu institutioneller Erosion, sondern zu einer institutionellen Konversion von korporatistischen Institutionen in Richtung neuer Ziele in einem internationalen Kontext beigetragen. Während der Regierungskoalition der konservativen Volkspartei und der rechtsstehenden, populistischen Freiheitlichen Partei (2000-2006) wurde allerdings deutlich, dass das normative Bekenntnis zur Sozialpartnerschaft dann an seine Grenzen stößt, wenn sich das Machtgleichgewicht zugunsten einer stärker neoliberalen Position verschiebt. Nicht-marktbestimmte Institutionen stellen daher eher eine ‚geliehene Stabilität“ zur Verfügung, als eine robuste Basis für eine Resilienz des Austro-Korporatismus. Gewerkschaften sind im Besonderen gefordert ihre Aufmerksamkeit auf ihre Mitglieder zu richten und neue Wege zu finden, wie sie ihre Rolle als Sozialpartnerschaftsorganisationen und soziale Bewegungen kombinieren können, um die nichtmarktbestimmten Institutionen zu bewahren.

Context: Vocational education and training (VET) is expected to be designed for creating learning outcomes which meet the needs for skills and competences in the labour market. Hence, identifying current and upcoming skill requirements and ensuring that these requirements are incorporated into education has long been the subject of academic and policy discussion. Governance processes keeping VET systems up-to-date have been more recently addressed as 'feedback mechanisms'. The term broadly summarizes the interplay of institutions, actors and processes which allows the continuous renewal of VET provision (i.e. by creating new qualifications or updating curricula). The aim of the paper is to enhance the understanding of cross-national variations in formally institutionalised 'feedback mechanisms' between VET and the labour market.Method: The research builds on a comparative analysis of case studies in 15 European countries. The paper presents examples for four different 'formal feedback mechanisms' in Germany, France, England, and Austria.Results: Four main types of formal mechanism have been identified: 1) The liberal model explained by VET in England and Higher VET in Austria; 2) The statist model explained by school-based VET in Austria; 3) the participatory model explained by VET in France and 4) the coordinated model explained by apprenticeship training in Germany and Austria.Conclusions: Existing approaches in the economic sociology of labour markets, the varieties of capitalism approach as well as comparative research on welfare states are useful * Corresponding author: markowitsch@3s.co.at ISSN: 2197-8646 http://www.ijrvet.net 286 Markowitsch, Hefler in predicting whether particular VET systems are likely to be predominant. However, they do not provide an alternative in describing differences in VET systems which the concept of formal feedback mechanism does. Moreover, by analysing formal feedback mechanisms, it is possible to demarcate where a VET sub-system ends and another VET sub-systems begins. In this sense research presented here also asks for new standards for comparative VET research as it suggests that entities to be compared are not countries' overall VET systems, but their potential sub-systems.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to show how a typology of participating patterns is developed to deepen understanding of participation in formal adult education and the relationship between current workplace and educational programmes. Design/methodology/approach -The approach takes the form of conceptual work based on a qualitative analysis of 89 cases studies covering 113 participating employees in small and medium-sized enterprises in 12 European countries. Findings -Five main types of participation patterns in formal adult education are identified. When employed participants focus on their education, they may complete their formal programme ("Completing"), overrule an earlier decision to leave the educational system ("Returning") or look for a starting-point to change their professional career ("Transforming"). When focusing on employment, employees may use formal adult education for "Reinforcing" their earlier career decisions. Here, four subtypes are proposed. Finally, employees may enjoy their studies for features not available at work ("Compensation").Research limitations/implications -The typology was based on qualitative data; the sample does not claim to be representative. However, it could become the basis for a quantitative survey design. Practical implications -The typology is likely to be of value in a wide array of fields such as whether the employer organisation should offer support, or whether there should be an economic return to education. Originality/value -The typology builds on a life-cycle model and combines it with the relationship between the educational programme and the workplace. It is not restricted to certain groups of learners or formal programmes.

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