dispersion across regions of the world and countries. Firms in Africa and in South Asia are the ones training the least in our sample, while firms in Latin America are among the highest trainers. Table A2 in the appendix defines all the variables used in the paper.

Some firms in the data report missing information on job training. This could raise some concerns regarding some biases on misreporting.<sup>12</sup> It is worth discussing firms could differ significantly in how they define a formal job training program, across countries, sectors and possibly even firm sizes. While all the training events refer to formal programs supplied by the firm, they are likely to differ in content, organization and financing.<sup>13</sup> For example, even though all programs are provided by the firm, the training is not necessarily financed equally by the firm and their workers. In some firms, workers might be willing to support part of the cost, either directly or indirectly (e.g., through lower wages). The training might also have a more general or firm specific content or it can differ depending on whether it is delivered by the firm itself or by a (private or public) training institute. Nevertheless, independently of 12 Table A3 in the appendix presents a simple model documenting whether the firms with missing data on the question on whether they provide job training differ systematically from other firms. The findings show that firms with missing data are, on average, smaller, younger and have some share of public ownership. Firms are also located in the capital city and have a more skilled workforce than firms reporting nonmissing information on job training. Firms operating in non-manufacturing sectors (like retail or services) are also more likely to report missing data than firms in manufacturing. Even though this could be a source of concern, we have analyzed our main findings assuming two extreme scenarios: first assuming all the missing reporting is associated either with no investments in job training; second, assuming all the missing reporting is associated with investing in job training. Reassuringly, the point estimates in these two scenarios would remain qualitatively and quantitatively very similar to our main results (tables 3 through 5). Under the first scenario de point estimates for the baseline specification (table 3, column 3) would become 14.4, 32.8 and 42.1 for small, medium and large sized firms, while in the second scenario the point estimates would become 15.3, 33.8 and 43.1 percentage points, respectively. Moreover, also reassuringly, there would not be significant differences in the relative importance of the factors discussed throughout sections 4 and 5 in the paper.

13 Since we explore a firm level survey, we assume this question relates to the acquisition of skills required for work. However, the characteristics of the training supplied by each firm are likely to differ. First, trainings could take place inside or outside the normal working period. Second, it can be formally or informally accredited. Third, it can be offered within or outside the firm. From the precise question asked being asked it is unclear the type of training being offered. However, since the survey covers mostly formal sector firms and the question refers to _formal_ training ( _“beyond on the job”),_ we assume that the survey captures mostly formal training episodes taking place off the working period. This comes in opposition to the informal training, which tends to take place during the working period and usually does not result in a specific qualification. The latter is more difficult to measure. Nevertheless, and independently of the training type, we do expect the training to benefit jointly firms and workers through higher productivity and/or wages. Otherwise, one of the parties would not be willing to engage in it.

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