证书的信号失灵:职业技能与农民工收入回报

The Signal Is Not Working:The Impact of Vocational Skills on the Migrant Workers'Income

提升农民工的职业技能在个体层面有助于提高农民工的工资收入,在宏观层面则有助于化解随产业结构转型升级而来的就业结构性矛盾。农民工的职业技能可以分为有证书的职业技能和没有证书的实践技能。第一种技能除了具有人力资本意涵之外,其证书本身在劳动力市场又具有一定的信号功能,而第二种技能的意义主要在于人力资本本身。本文基于对2020年“江苏省农民工就业状况调查数据”的分析发现,是否持有职业技能证书对农民工工资收入并没有显著的影响,职业技能证书存在信号失灵的现象,而农民工的实践技能则能够显著提升其工资收入。这一研究发现表明,针对农民工等群体的职业技能培训要做到切实提升受训者的“一技之长”,即强调所获技能的人力资本意涵;同时也要反思职业技能证书的认定问题,完善职业技能认证体系。

Improving the vocational skills of migrant workers can not only help to improve the income of migrant workers but also help to resolve the structural contradictions of employment that come with the transformation and upgrading of industrial structure.The vocational skills of migrant workers can be divided into certified vocational skills and practical skills without certificates.In addition to having the meaning of human capital,the certificate has a certain signal function in the labor market,while the meaning of the second skill lies mainly in human capital.Based on the analysis of the 2020 Jiangsu Migrant-workers Employment Survey Data,this study shows that holding vocational skill certificates has no significant impact on migrant workers'wage income;the signal is not working.However,the practical skills of migrant workers can significantly improve income.These results indicate the necessity of practical-oriented vocational training for migrant workers and emphasis on the skills'meaning of human capital.At the same time,we should reflect on the certification of vocational skills and enhance the certification system.