Acquiring Skills Market Failures, their Symptoms and Policy Responses [Hardcover]

This 1996 book examines the consequences, and policy implications of failure in training provision and skills acquisition in the industrial world.In recent years there has been widespread concern that employees are insufficiently skilled, and it is recognised that this deficiency can have serious economic consequences. This book, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, provides a systematic account of the causes, consequences and policy implications of failure in training provision and skills acquisition in the industrial world. It explains why the market mechanism leads people to under-invest in skills and examines the empirical outcome of these problems using a portfolio of examples for European countries.In recent years there has been widespread concern that employees are insufficiently skilled, and it is recognised that this deficiency can have serious economic consequences. This book, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, provides a systematic account of the causes, consequences and policy implications of failure in training provision and skills acquisition in the industrial world. It explains why the market mechanism leads people to under-invest in skills and examines the empirical outcome of these problems using a portfolio of examples for European countries.In recent years, technological change, unemployment and industrial restructuring have highlighted training and the acquisition of skills as a policy issue. Throughout the industrialized world there is widespread concern that employees are insufficiently skilled. This deficiency can have serious economic consequences, reflected in excessive unemployment, meager growth, impeded competitiveness, excessive wages, insufficient innovation, and deficient product quality. This volume, from the Centre for Economic Policy Research, provides a systematic account of all the major market failures in the area of skills acquisition.List of figures; List of tables; Preface; List of contributors; 1. IntroduclÃ&