Skill development patterns and their impact on re-employability : evidence for Portugal

Our main objective is to assess the impact upon reemployment probabilities of school and/or vocational training attendance during unemployment spells. According to Weiss’ (1986) model return to schooling or training, while unemployed, should have an impact on reemployment probabilities since skill developments not only prevent obsolescence but also contribute to human capital growth. We use duration models to assess the impact of skill dynamics on life cycle trajectories, namely on the probability of getting a job after an unemployment spell. The dataset used for estimation was selected from the Portuguese quarterly employment surveys (Inquérito ao Emprego) for the period between the 3rd quarter of 2002 and the 4th quarter of 2003. We present estimates for the Weibull, the Cox proportional hazard (PH) and Prentice and Gloeckler (1978) models assuming continuous-time and discrete-time specifications. There is no much difference in the estimates from these specifications and they seem to confirm that leaving unemployment becomes easier and/or unemployment spells smaller whenever education and/or training are present to compensate for qualifications obsolescence, all other things being equal (ceteris paribus). We end up with some policy implications that might get support from the present as well as future results of this research