Training, Wage Growth and Job Performance: Evidence From a Company Database

Ann P. Bartel

NBER Working Paper No. 4027 (Also Reprint No. r2000)
Issued in August 1995
NBER Program(s):   LS

This paper studies the relationships between on-the-job training, wages and job performance by using the personnel records of a large manufacturing firm. Utilizing a company database avoids the biases that generally result when individuals are unable to accurately recall the amount of training they received and/or when definitions of training vary across diverse firms. The main findings presented in this paper are: (1) Controlling for information on days spent in formal training programs reduces the returns to tenure by 18%; (2) First-difference models of wage growth which eliminate heterogeneity bias in wage levels show that training has a positive and significant effect on wage growth; (3) Fixed-effects models that control for heterogeneity bias in wage growth still find a positive and significant effect of training on wage growth; and (4) Training leads to an improvement in job performance, as measured by performance rating scores.

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Published: Journal of Labor Economics, VOlume 13, No. 3, July 1995, pp. 401-425

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