CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2014
| Author | Wallace, Nicholas Richard |
|---|---|
| Title | Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Labour Market Policies for Generation Praktikum |
| Summary | This thesis investigates whether internships help labour markets adjust to skill shortages. Chapter one identifies the social costs of Generation Prakikum and highlights evidence that casts doubt on its alleged benefits, and argues that the positive contribution of internships must be proven in order to justify their role. Chapter two discusses changes in developed labour markets since the 1970s and contemporary issues of skill-mismatching. Two theories of internships are introduced: one where internships play a role in helping labour markets to adjust to these structural changes, and one where the signal sent by the fact a candidate has completed an internship is independent of any skills the candidate may or may not have acquired. Chapter three examines Germany’s labour market, comparing data on skill shortages and surpluses with the prevalence of internships in different sectors. After controlling for sector size, internships are found to be at least as prevalent in skill-surplus sectors as in skill-shortage sectors, casting doubt over the assumption that internships help markets adjust to skill shortages. Chapter four discusses these findings in the context of current trends in policy, and argues that effectively implemented minimum wage legislation would not only reduce the opportunity cost of internships, but manipulate employer incentives so as to create a smaller, fairer and more productive internship market. |
| Supervisor | Sitter, Nikolai; Karagiannis, Yannis |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2014/wallace_nicholas.pdf |
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