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This book studies the effects of post-school human capital investments. In contrast to school education which primarily affects the human capital of future generations, interventions later in the life cycle, e.g., public training programs for the unemployed, potentially have an immediate effect on the current workforce. Therefore, these investments appear attractive from a typically short- or medium-term oriented policymaker´s point of view. Based on this observation, this book addresses the underlying question of the effectiveness of these investment decisions in a number of facets. Questions which are addressed include the following: Do prime-age skilled unemployed benefit more from training? Can vouchers improve the effectiveness of public training programs? What are the effects of active labor market policy in transition economies? Who engages in lifelong learning, i.e., training activities of employed individuals, and what are the effects of participation?

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Dr. Ulf Rinne studied economics at the University of Bonn andLisbon. He received his doctorate from the Free University ofBerlin in July 2009. He works as a Research Associate andPersonal Advisor to the Director at the Institute for the Studyof Labor (IZA) in Bonn. His research interests include labormarket policy, human capital and migration.

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