Enterprise training in developing countries : overview of incidence, determinants, and productivity outcomes

Unique firm-level data from five developing countries -- Colombia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Taiwan and China -- were assembled to provide a first look at the incidence, determinants, and productivity outcomes of enterprise training in developing countries. Several common training determinants were identified in the cross-national analysis. Firms are more likely to train when they are large, employ an educated and skilled workforce, invest in R&D and technology licences, emphasize quality control methods, have foreign capital participation, and export to foreign markets. The production function analyses provided strong evidence of the productivity enhancing effects of training. A large and significant impact of training on productivity was found for skilled workers but not unskilled workers, and for inhouse formal training as compared with external sources of training.