Question

A justification for job training programs is that they improve worker productivity. Suppose that you are asked to evaluate whether more job training makes workers more productive. However, rather than having data on individual workers, you have access to data on manufacturing firms in Ohio. In particular, for each firm, you have information on hours of job training per worker (training) and number of nondefective items produced per worker hour (output).
Required:
a. Carefully state the ceteris paribus experiment underlying this policy question.
b. Does it seem likely that a firm's decision to train its workers will be independent of worker characteristics?
c. Name a factor other than worker characteristics that can affect worker productivity.
d. If you find a positive correlation between output and training, would you have convincingly established that job training makes workers more productive?

Answer 1

Explanation:

1. The ceterus paribus effect gives us to what extent, the effect of a variable has on another variable, while holding all other factors fixed. Analysing job training of workers on productivity will give us results that are not biased since we will not be taking account of other factor variables in the calculations. When 2 firms are the same in almost every aspect apart from number of hours on training, then we will find out that each firm would have different levels of workers output. So we should know if workers output increases due to job training.

2. When it comes to provision of training, furms do these based on characteristics of the workers. Some of these characteristics are measurable while some are immeasurable

Measurable:

Experience on the job,

Productivity

Level of education,

immeasurable :

Skill set

Vision

Likeliness to bstay at firm

3. Apart from worker characteristics, productivity also depends on other factors one of which is technological change. A technological change can bring about increased efficiency and greater output by the worker. Different firms using different capital and technological combination are quite likely to have different output levels.

4. A positive correlation between job training and productivity cannot be used to ascertain if job training makes worker more efficient this is due to the fact that correlation only tells us if variables are in coexistence. So a positive correlation does not tell us that job training is indeed bringing about changes in the productivity of workers.