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If the standards of living in the Western Balkans are to converge on those in the EU then the current productivity gap needs eliminating. A significant portion of that gap would ideally be eliminated through the expansion of employer-provided training. However, survey data indicate that since 2016 training incidence has been rising in only two of the six countries of the Western Balkans. The main contribution of this paper is to investigate this disappointing performance. A model of the determinants of the incidence of employer-provided training is developed based on theory and investigations in other countries. It is found that in the Western Balkans firms with foreign owners, those who export and those who report that their employees are eager to access training are more likely to provide training, whilst micro and small firms are less likely to provide training. Sentiments regarding the firm's and economy's current performance and their prospects are also significant determinants. The policy implications of these findings are addressed in the concluding section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students' well-being is crucial for learning motivation and effective learning, for their quality of life and their psychological health later in life. In this regard, this article investigates the factors that affect the well-being of students in secondary vocational schools in Kosovo and Macedonia. It empirically examines determinants of students' well-being categorised into socio-demographic factors, environment and socialisation, and satisfaction factors. It is based on an OLS regression analysis, using data from six secondary vocational schools in the two countries. Findings reveal that well-being is determined to a great extent by students' experience in school, particularly their perception of the usefulness of what they are learning for a future job, whether teachers are welcoming, and the friendliness of co-students. Students who experience bullying are much less happy in school. These findings are important from a policy perspective, as they reveal that students' well-being is mainly determined by factors that can be controlled and influenced by schools and less so by factors that are not determined by schools. The evidence from this study can be used to strengthen the social inclusion role of vocational schools.

Gender-based violence against women is still one of the most worrying facts in Kosovo. This paper examines determinants of women's tolerant attitudes toward gender-based violence against women in Kosovo. An empirical assessment of determinants of tolerance towards domestic violence was conducted by utilizing data from the Kosovo Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) carried out in 2019-2020. The survey was carried out with 5,124 households, drawn from a sample representative of the whole population of Kosovo. The national representative sampling by the MICS survey allows for generalized findings. Economic conditions, lower education level, residence, marital status, and marrying age are important predictors of a higher rate of women's tolerant attitudes toward gender-based violence among women in Kosovo. The study's important findings open new pathways for multi-level design studies including more variables such as social support, family finances management, gender roles in parenting, health situation, institutional responsiveness, and efficacy of institutional interventions to reduce gender-based violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]