The Role of Career Aspirations and Financial Constraints in Individual Access to Vocational Training.

The incidence of vocational training is influenced by characteristics of workers and firms. The authors investigate the determinants of both employer-arranged training and individually organized training. The data relate to training spells experienced by 2,000 British workers in 1984-87, when the propensity to train was rising rapidly. Both recent training and future expected training are related to a wide range of personal and job characteristics, including attitudes and incomes. Low income is associated with the failure to undertake training, suggestive of market failure in selection. However, training incidence is higher for those with positive career aspirations, which reflects an efficient selection rule. Copyright 1994 by Royal Economic Society.