Creating Cooperation

How do governments convince firms to invest in worker training when companies might prefer to poach skilled workers from their competitors? This book explores the political foundations of vocational education systems across Europe, examining why some countries develop robust apprenticeship programs while others struggle.

Through detailed case studies of France and eastern Germany after reunification, the book shows how governments can overcome collective action problems in skills development—and why their efforts sometimes fail.

The analysis reveals that successful training systems require more than good policy design; they depend on building trust and cooperation among employers, workers, and the state.