Factors Influencing Enterprise Training: Evidence From New Zealand

Abstract

Information gleaned from the 2003 New Zealand Skills and Training Survey, conducted as a part of a joint study by Business New Zealand and Industry Training Federation and supported by the New Zealand Department of Labour's Future of Work Contestable Fund, are used to assess, within the New Zealand context, the relative impact various factors generally known to influence provision of training in o ther countries. For the purposes of this paper, factors suggested by academic literature as likely determinants of training are grouped under two broad categories: enterprise characteristics and employee demographics. Measures of these influences are specified as independent variables in linear and logistic regressions used to derive estimates of the extent to which each factor affects various aspects of skills development and training in New Zealand enterprises. Indices of training volume and training diversity, which gauge the nature and extent of training in these organizations, are employed as dependent variables in these regressions. Results of this analysis suggest, among other things, that firm size and casualisation of workforce are the most significant factors affecting the provision of training by New Zealand employers.