The German Skills Machine: Sustaining Comparative Advantage in a Global Economy

I nternal criticism of the German training system, which is primarily directed at the formalized linkages between training and developments in the labor market, is as old as the system itself. Furthermore, the number of proponents and detractors of the dual system falls and rises in line with economic upturns and downturns: they do not constitute a unified camp, and they are in no way equally distributed across all sectors. Whereas the electronics and chemical industries have tried to undermine the dual apprenticeship system from its inception, considering it inadequate for their labor force management needs, the engineering industry, the trades and crafts sector, and the civil service have always favored the system, emphasizing its importance for skill formation and for organized vocational socialization. The

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