Analysis of the matching effectiveness of vocational training for the unemployed: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

Abstract

The Republic of Korea is in urgent need of vocational training to mitigate high levels of skill mismatch. This article studies the largely unexplored impact of vocational training on skill mismatch using administrative vocational training data (HRD-Net, 2016-19). We consider skill-matched employment rates (as opposed to the conventional employment rate), applying a fixed effects model to analyse their determinants. Our analysis of training course and individual characteristics as major variables indicates that training time has a significantly greater positive effect on skill-matched employment rates than on the conventional employment rate, but that the opposite is true of individual characteristics.