The Comparative Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation

The impact of within country heterogeneity in vocational specificity on initial job matches and job status

“…Recently, several scholars have pointed out that the notion of a simplified dichotomy between general and specific skills, as conceptualised within the framework of Asset Theory adopted in the Varieties of Capitalism approach, lacks analytical rigour in capturing differences in the skills provided by ETS (Busemeyer, 2009;Busemeyer and Trampusch, 2012;Iversen and Stephens, 2008;Streeck, 2012). This is because in many applications three dimensions are locked in the dichotomous distinction of general and specific skills, namely level, breath and portability, and as a result, these dimensions are expected to co-vary in a way that general (academic) skills are assumed to be high, broad and transferable, whereas specific skills are held to be low, narrow and immobile.…”

The Europeanisation of Vocational Education and Training

“…Especially, it is questioned whether the approach is able to capture the existing differences across CMEs. This is also the case for skills regimes, where notable differences can be observed across coordinated skill regimes (Anderson and Hassel 2013;Busemeyer 2009a: 386;Busemeyer and Trampusch 2011b;Ebner and Nikolai 2010: 619). Since this point is highly relevant for my case selection, I will discuss the question of VET typologies in more detail in section 1.2.…”

“…In a recent volume, Busemeyer and Trampusch (2011b) discuss the Comparative Political Economy of what they call "collective skill formation systems". A core feature is that these are organised in a collective manner, which they define as follows: "first, firms are strongly involved in financing and administering workplace-based training; second, intermediary associations play an important role in the administration and reform of these systems; third, the systems provide portable, certified occupational skills; and fourth, training takes place not only in schools but also in companies, usually in the form of dual apprenticeship training" (ibid, 4).…”

“…In Culpepper's view (2003), it is stability rather than change which is the strength of those approaches that focus on equilibria. For example, Busemeyer and Trampusch (2011b) argue that they take a dynamic perspective on VET. In their view, VET systems "are vulnerable and, in part, even fragile institutional arrangements that need the continuous political support of relevant stakeholders" (ibid, 4).…”

Celtic Phoenix or Leprechaun Economics? The Politics of an FDI-led Growth Model in Europe

“…While the traditional, cost-based, price sensitive export-led growth regime that colored Europe's austerity policies may be suitable for (relatively) labor intensive, manufactured goods, it is far less relevant for export sectors of high-value services, such as ICT and finance, due to the nature of production and consumption of those services. Whereas low and medium tech manufactured goods in Germany, Eastern and Central Europe may require comparatively low levels of skilled labor and/or vocationally specific trained labor, high-valued services necessitate a general-skilled and university trained work force, where a premium is placed on flexibility, interpersonal and human relational capabilities (Culpepper 2003;Ansell 2008;Busemeyer & Trampusch 2012). …”