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This study uses comparable Danish and Norwegian administrative registers in the period 1992 to 2003 to examine how social origin affects unemployment risks and social assistance reception over the early life course. Denmark and Norway have traditionally been viewed as similar in political, cultural and social aspects. However, labour market regulation in Denmark is more liberal than in Norway. This study therefore serves as a unique comparison of the impact of social origin under varying conditions of labour market regulation. Although the absolute probability of being disadvantaged decreases as individuals progress in age from 20 to 30 and varies between Denmark and Norway, the relative impact of social background is stable and similar. The results offer little support to theories that put a strong emphasis on inter-generational transmission through educational achievements, but rather point toward the importance of ascriptive resources. Generalised estimating equations are used to assess the repeated outcomes.

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The focus of this article is twofold. The first part is centred around the historical development of the Danish training and education system for people in employment, while the second draws on the results of a recently conducted survey in order to discuss the role of skill needs analyses and the determinants of enterprise-sponsored training. A major issue that emerges in an analysis of the historical development to the present is that the introduction in 2001 of the latest changes in the legal framework of [continuing vocational training] CVT signalled changes in the established ways of viewing CVT in Denmark. These changes constituted a shift in financial responsibility away from the state and towards the social partners. Furthermore, they indicated diminished state responsibility for CVT activities and a move towards more market-oriented/demand-led CVT. An important conclusion reached in the part of the paper dealing with analyses of skill needs is that motivation for sponsoring CVT should not be analysed as a simple causal relation where a qualification need leads to sponsored CVT. Instead, sponsoring of CVT should be seen as an enterprise's way of dealing with external as well as internal challenges of varying nature. The conclusions drawn are based on the view that personnel policy consists of four elements: recruitment, retainment, development and outflow. Applying this perspective paves the way for a more comprehensive picture of CVT activity and acknowledges the multifaceted motives behind enterprise-sponsored CVT.

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