Alexander Willén, Norwegian School of Economics

Beyond Training: Worker Agency, Informal Learning, and Competition

Abstract

We study how labor market competition shapes workplace skill development. Using large-scale linked survey and administrative data from Norway, complemented by vignette experiments with workers and managers, we show that human capital accumulation is greater in competitive markets. This pattern is driven primarily by workers’ own learning efforts rather than firm-provided training. Competition strengthens worker incentives by improving outside options, tightening the link between productivity and pay, and fostering informal learning. Most skill accumulation occurs through learning-by-doing, self-study, and peer interaction, and is concentrated in higher-order, transferable skills. Firms in competitive markets also invest more in training, consistent with higher returns to skill investment despite greater poaching risk. Together, the findings challenge the
view that competition suppresses training and instead highlight its role as a catalyst for human-capital accumulation.

Alexander Willén is Professor of Economics at the Norwegian School of Economics and member of FAIR. He holds a Ph.D. in Policy Analysis from Cornell University, a MPP in Public Policy from Georgetown University and a BA from Durham University.

His research focuses on the economics of education and labor economics. He has published in peer-reviewed outlets such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, and the Journal of Labor Economics.

You can read more about Alexander Willén here

CEBI contact: Torben Heien Nielsen.