Devolving skills: the case of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers

Cavaglia, Chiara, Mcnally, Sandra and Overman, Henry G. ORCID: 0000-0002-3525-7629 (2020) Devolving skills: the case of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers. Fiscal Studies, 41 (4). 829 - 849. ISSN 1475-5890

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Abstract

One rationale for devolution is that local decision makers may be well placed to adapt national policies to the local context. We test whether such adaptation helps meet programme objectives in the case of the Apprenticeship Grant for Employers. Originally a national programme, aimed at incentivising employers to take on apprentices, reforms a few years into operation gave some Local Authorities negotiated flexibilities in how the scheme operated. We consider the impact of the national scheme and then use a difference‐in‐differences approach to test whether flexibility led to an increase in the number of apprenticeship starts in devolved areas relative to control groups. We find that flexibility had zero effect. There is suggestive evidence that this is because flexibilities were negotiated on the wrong margins.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14755890
Additional Information:	© 2020 The Authors
Divisions:	Centre for Economic Performance Geography & Environment
Subjects:	J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
JEL classification:	J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J24 - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J4 - Particular Labor Markets > J48 - Public Policy H - Public Economics > H7 - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations > H73 - Interjurisdictional Differentials and Their Effects
Date Deposited:	07 Sep 2020 11:15
Last Modified:	07 Apr 2024 04:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/106502

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