Cooperation Between Colleges and Companies: Vocational Education, Skill Mismatches and China's Turnover Problem

The Chinese government promotes cooperation between colleges and companies in vocational education to improve the supply of skilled workers and increase labour productivity. This study employs the concept of positive coordination – negotiations concurrently addressing productive and distributive que...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The China quarterly (London) 2024-12, Vol.260, p.986-1004
Main Author: Müller, Armin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Colleges & universities
Companies
Cooperation
Coordination
Costs
Curricula
Economic growth
Employee turnover
Employment
Higher education
Institutionalism
Job requirements
Labor market
Labor productivity
Productivity
Skilled workers
Skills
Students
Teaching
Tuition
Vocational education
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Chinese government promotes cooperation between colleges and companies in vocational education to improve the supply of skilled workers and increase labour productivity. This study employs the concept of positive coordination – negotiations concurrently addressing productive and distributive questions – to analyse the advantages and limitations of voluntary cooperation embedded in networks. In terms of production, many projects focus on updating, narrowing and deepening curricula to lower the costs of initial training borne by companies and the risk of labour turnover. In terms of distribution, however, the deep and narrow curricula are at odds with students’ preference for general and transferable skills; and the mutual commitments of both companies and students are uncertain. The solutions provided by cooperation are partial and unstable. Overall, they reduce skill mismatches but cannot control turnover or overcome market failure, which undermines tertiary vocational education's contribution to labour productivity.
ISSN:0305-7410
1468-2648
DOI:10.1017/S0305741023001868