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Since 2008, the Austrian Vocational Training Act has given young people the opportunity to obtain vocational qualifications in supra-company training workshops. In addition to the traditional full-time vocational school system and company-based apprenticeship training, a third vocational qualification path has thus been established. This article presents empirical findings on this innovation in skill formation and examines the question of whether conditions for the sustainable establishment of a third pillar for acquiring vocational qualifications are given with regard to regulatory, normative, and cultural cognitive dimensions.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to compare a firm’s net cost and post-apprenticeship benefits of providing apprenticeship training in Austria and Switzerland: two countries with many similarities but some critical institutional differences. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw on detailed workplace data with information on the costs and benefits of apprenticeship training, as well as on hiring costs for skilled workers from the external labour market. The authors use nearest-neighbour matching models to compare Austrian firms with similar Swiss firms based on observable characteristics. Findings On average, a Swiss firm generates an annual net benefit of €3,400 from training an apprentice, whereas a firm in Austria incurs net costs of €4,200. The impetus for this difference is largely a higher relative apprentice pay in Austria. However, compared with Swiss firms, Austrian firms generate a higher post-training return by retaining a higher share of apprentices and savings on future hiring costs. Practical implications The authors demonstrate that apprenticeship systems can exist under different institutional environments. For countries currently in the process of establishing or expanding apprenticeship systems, the comparative analysis clearly shows that policymakers should consider more than just one country’s particular apprenticeship model. Originality/value The authors provide a first comparative analysis between two apprenticeship countries that empirically assesses a firm’s costs and benefits of training during an apprenticeship programme and also provides a monetary value of a particular type of post-training benefits that firms can generate by retaining former apprentices as skilled workers (i.e. savings in future hiring costs for skilled workers).

Die Frage, warum Betriebe sich an der Ausbildung von Jugendlichen beteiligen, wird wesentlich durch bildungsökonomische Forschungsansätze untersucht, nämlich hinsichtlich des betrieblichen Investitions- oder Produktionsinteresses. In Deutschland und der Schweiz gehören wiederkehrende Kosten-Nutzen-Erhebungen zum festen Bestandteil der Berufsbildungsforschung. Anhand einer aktuellen Erhebung aus Österreich werden für die deutschsprachigen Länder erstmals das Verhältnis der Bruttokosten, Wert der produktiven Leistungen und Nettokosten, die Ertragsstruktur nach Tätigkeiten und Entwicklung des Leistungsgrades sowie Übernahmequote nach der Ausbildung vergleichend untersucht.