New firms are important drivers of economic growth. Apprenticeship training is, primarily in German-speaking countries, a widespread practice of skill formation. In this study, we combine these two facts and analyze the determinants of the training propensity of startups in Switzerland. This study is based on data for Swiss firms founded in 1996-97 that were collected in the years 2000, 2003 and 2006 respectively by means of a postal survey among those firms, which still existed at that time. The use of this dataset allows us to analyze how the determinants of training propensity change with increasing firm age.

Many economists think that new firms are an important source of new business practices and new technology (see, e.g., Audretsch et al., 2006). Such innovative behavior is closely related to a high rate of human capital formation. The dual system of vocational education is an important pillar of the Swiss education system and an important source of human capital for the Swiss economy. In Switzerland, about 70% of a cohort strives for a vocational qualification. 75% of them pass through the apprenticeship system, and 25% attend full-time vocational schools. The employees with vocational education at the upper secondary level build the largest group among employed persons. Moreover, having such a (nationally recognized) vocational training certified by the same national standards is a precondition for the acquisition of every other type of higher tertiary-level education (with the exception of academic education). The so-called `dual system' of apprenticeship-based vocational training combines education at a vocational school of one or two days a week, where general and occupation-specific skills are acquired, with work of three to four days a week in the training company, where practical learning is concentrated on occupation-specific andto some degreefirm-specific skills.

This paper investigates the determinants of the propensity to train apprentices of a cohort of Swiss firms that were founded in 1996-97. This cohort contained only `green-field' startups without mergers, manager-takeovers, etc. Are newly-founded firms interested in investing in the training of apprentices, and if so, is this training propensity increasing or decreasing with firm age? These are the main research questions we are pursuing in this study. So far, these questions are rather under-researched.

Entrepreneurship Development Journal, Training Propensity, Swiss Education System, Apprenticeship System, Swiss Economy, Vocational Education, Human Resources, Economic Literature, Swiss Firms, Product Differentiation, Product Innovation, Traditional Services, Management Resources, Business Services, Firm Management, Economic Stagnation, Business Development.