Does learning trigger learning throughout adulthood? Evidence from training participation of the employed population

Individuals with more years of education generally acquire more training later on in life. Such a relationship may be due to skills learned in early periods increasing returns to educational investments in later periods. Using German data, this paper addresses the question whether the complementarity between education and training is causal. The identification is based on exogenous variation in years of education due to the buildup of universities. Results confirm that education has a significant impact on training participation during working life.