Staying Within or Leaving the Apprenticeship System? Revisions of Educational Choices in Apprenticeship Training

Abstract

Summary The decision to revise an educational choice has hardly been analyzed in previous research. Dropping out is only one possible choice, and we distinguish between dropping out (leaving the apprenticeship system) and changing or upgrading (staying within the apprenticeship system) as three possibilities to revise an educational decision, using a dataset that consists of apprentices who have dissolved their apprenticeship contract. We analyze the determinants of leaving apprenticeship training using competing risks models. Dropout decisions seem to be driven by financial considerations such as financial distress, but local labor market conditions seem to have no effect on them. Our findings underline the importance of distinguishing between the different choices instead of focusing exclusively on dropping out.