[Introduction:] The Comparative Political Economy of Collective Skill Formation

Abstract

From a historical-institutionalist and firm-centered perspective, decisions on the division of labor between firms, associations, and the state in providing and financing skills are the core factor accounting for different skill formation systems. From this it follows that, alongside the degree of firm involvement in the provision of vocational training and the degree of public commitment to vocational training, four different skill formation systems can be distinguished: the liberal, the segmentalist, the collective, and the statist. Collective skill formation systems are the result of political struggles with regard to four neuralgic points of conflict: the division of labor between the state, employers, their associations, and individuals first on the provision and then on the financing of vocational education and training (VET); the relationship between firm autonomy and public oversight in the provision of training; and the linkages between VET and the general education system.