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Abstract:
This paper applies the familiar theoretical distinction between general and specific training to the empirical task of estimating the returns to in-company training. Using a firm-level dataset which distinguishes between general and specific training, we test for the relative effects of the two types of training on productivity growth. We find that although general training has a statistically positive effect on productivity growth, no such effect is observable for specific training. This positive effect of general training remains when we control for factors such as changes in work organization and corporate re-structuring, firm size and the initial level of human capital in the enterprise. Moreover, the impact of general training varies positively with the level of capital investment.

Abstract:
Higher rates of economic growth in recent years have led Ireland from being a country characterized by emigration to one where population inflows have become an important issue. This paper contains an analysis of one element of the current inflow. Drawing on data collected in 1998 on over 800 Irish individuals who had graduated from Irish colleges in 1992, we compare the wages of returned migrants with the wages of those who stayed in Ireland. In a recent paper, it has been argued that returned migrants accumulate skills and competencies while away that are rewarded on return to the home country. We find support for this argument for men. On average, returning males earn 10 percent more than men who stayed in Ireland, controlling for a range of factors. However, men who say that they originally migrated for labour-related reasons earn 15 percent more. No wage premium is found for female returning migrants relative to female stayers.

Abstract:
Most research on pay and benefit differences between full- and part-time work focuses on characteristics of part-time workers and part-time jobs. However, part-time jobs are more open to labour market 'outsiders', and such labour market mobility can influence wages. We analyse the effects of working time, gender, segmentation and mobility on wages and pension benefits in Ireland. Both segmentation and mobility influence wages directly, and controlling for segmentation in a wage model eliminates the negative effect of part-time working. The wage effects of labour market mobility differ by gender and labour market segment. Pension entitlement is strongly influenced by gender, working time, labour market segment and mobility.

Abstract:
Much has been written about the labour market outcomes for immigrants in their host countries, particularly with regard to earnings, employment and occupational attainment. However, much less attention has been paid to the question of whether immigrants are as likely to receive employer-provided training relative to comparable natives. As such training should be crucial in determining the labour market success of immigrants in the long run it is a critically important question. Using data from a large scale survey of employees in Ireland, we find that immigrants are less likely to receive training from employers, with immigrants from the New Member States of the EU experiencing a particular disadvantage. The immigrant training disadvantage arises in part from a failure on the part of immigrants to get employed by training-oriented firms. However, they also experience a training disadvantage relative to natives within firms where less training is provided.

immigrants, employer-provided training, Ireland

Abstract:
Ireland experienced dramatic growth in the economy and employment in the second half of the 1990s. This paper examines the consequences of that boom for returns to education and wage inequality using data from the Living in Ireland Survey for the years 1994, 1997, and 2001. Rapid economic growth is often expected to lead to increased returns to education and thus to rising wage inequality. We find fairly stable returns to education and falling wage inequality for men throughout the period, partly due to strong demand for unskilled labour, which helped maintain low-skilled wages. For women the wage premium for a university degree fell between 1997 and 2001, as did wage inequality. We argue that for women, low-skilled wages may have been kept up by the introduction of the minimum wage in 2000, and high-skilled wages fell due to a rapid rise in the supply of highly qualified women.