When the early bird catches the worm: timing and the impact of training in retail

We econometrically evaluate the performance effects of a six month elearning programme in a largeretail chain with monthly data on organizational level sales revenue, for four years using panel regressions.Members of initiating cohorts show positive performance effects during training and, dependent on theestimated specification, after training, which is not the case for succeeding participants. We conclude thatoffering training on voluntary basis leads participants with the highest expected idiosyncratic gains andthe highest talent to selfselect into early participation. As performance effects already unfold duringtraining, our findings put forward the importance of continuous training with close coaching unlike singletraining incidences.Christiane Hinerasky, University of Paderborn ; Prof. Dr. René Fahr, University of Paderborn and IZ