General human capital and employment adjustment in the Great Depression: apprentices and journeymen in UK engineering

Author: Hart, Robert A.

Source: Oxford Economic Papers, Volume 57, Number 1, 1 January 2005 , pp. 169-189(21)

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Abstract:

The relationship between training and firm-level employment adjustment given an unanticipated fall in product demand has been central to human capital theory. The most cataclysmic negative output shock occurred in 1929-30. At this time, easily the most important source of United Kingdom general training was the apprenticeship system. Using data collected by the Engineering Employers’ Federation (EEF), this paper examines the impact of the Great Depression on numbers of apprentices and skilled journeymen. Statistics cover eight skilled engineering occupations in 27 local labour markets over the period 1928–38. Relative employment adjustment responses of apprentices and journeymen accord well with general human capital arguments.

Keywords: JEL classification: E24; J24; N34

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpi011

Publication date: 2005-01-01

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Oxford Economic Papers is a general economics journal, publishing refereed papers in economic theory, applied economics, econometrics, economic development, economic history, and the history of economic thought. It occasionally publishes survey articles in addition to original papers. Books are not reviewed, but substantial review articles are considered. The journal occasionally publishes survey articles in addition to original papers, and occasionally publishes special issues or symposia.