Training hypothesis

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The training hypothesis, also known as the "job training hypothesis" or the "on-the-job-training hypothesis" is an area of study in economics, specifically in studies of productivity and wages. It predicts that low-aptitude applicants for employment or education can be made just as proficient as high-aptitude applicants, by giving them extra education or experience. [1][2][3][4]

To explain the hypothesis, Linda Gottfredson writes:

Another approach has been to provide extra instruction or experience to very low-aptitude individuals so that they have more time to master job content. Both reflect what might be termed the training hypothesis, which is that, with sufficient instruction, low-aptitude individuals can be trained to perform as well as high-aptitude individuals. The armed services have devoted much research to such efforts, partly because they periodically have had to induct large numbers of very low-aptitude recruits. Even the most optimistic observers (Sticht, 1975; Sticht, Armstrong, Hickey, & Caylor, 1987) have concluded that such training fails to improve general skills and, at most, increases the number of low-aptitude men who perform at minimally acceptable levels, mostly in lower level jobs. [5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Does Work Experience Increase Productivity? A Test of the On-The-Job Training Hypothesis" by Cheryl L. Maranto, Robert C. Rodgers. The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer, 1984), pp. 341-357 J-STOR
  2. ^ "The Fine Structure of Earnings and the On-the-Job Training Hypothesis." John C. Hause. Econometrica, Vol. 48, No. 4 (May, 1980), pp. 1013-1029 JSTOR also available at REPEC
  3. ^ "Minimum wages, on-the-job training, and wage growth. by Adam J. Grossberg , Paul Sicilian Southern Economic Journal, Vol. 65, 1999 Questia "the best test of the training hypothesis "
  4. ^ Bartel, Ann P. "Earnings Growth on the Job and Between Jobs." Economic Inquiry, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, (January 1980), pp. 123-137. NBER
  5. ^ "Why g Matters: The Complexity of Everyday Life" by Linda S. Gottredson Intelligence, 24(1), 79-132. reprint


See also: