scholarly journals Tackling Youth Unemployment: Evidence From a Labor Market Experiment in Uganda

Econometrica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 2369-2414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Alfonsi ◽  
Oriana Bandiera ◽  
Vittorio Bassi ◽  
Robin Burgess ◽  
Imran Rasul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Vocational Training ◽  
Youth Unemployment ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Post Intervention ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Job Offers ◽  
Market Experiment ◽  
Employment Rates

We design a labor market experiment to compare demand‐ and supply‐side policies to tackle youth unemployment, a key issue in low‐income countries. The experiment tracks 1700 workers and 1500 firms over four years to compare the effect of offering workers either vocational training (VT) or firm‐provided training (FT) for six months in a common setting where youth unemployment is above 60%. Relative to control workers, we find that, averaged over three post‐intervention years, FT and VT workers: (i) enjoy large and similar upticks in sector‐specific skills, (ii) significantly improve their employment rates, and (iii) experience marked improvements in an index of labor market outcomes. These averages, however, mask differences in dynamics: FT gains materialize quickly but fade over time, while VT gains emerge slowly but are long‐lasting, leading VT worker employment and earning profiles to rise above those of FT workers. Estimating a job ladder model of worker search reveals the key reason for this: VT workers receive significantly higher rates of job offers when unemployed, thus hastening their movement back into work. This likely stems from the fact that the skills of VT workers are certified and therefore can be demonstrated to potential employers. Tackling youth unemployment by skilling youth using vocational training pre‐labor market entry therefore appears to be more effective than incentivizing firms through wage subsidies to hire and train young labor market entrants.

scholarly journals Immigration and economic mobility

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria F. Hoen ◽  
Simen Markussen ◽  
Knut Røed
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Lower Class ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Class Background ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Relative Prime

AbstractWe examine how immigration affects natives’ relative prime-age labor market outcomes by economic class background, with class background established on the basis of parents’ earnings rank. Exploiting alternative sources of variation in immigration patterns across time and space, we find that immigration from low-income countries reduces intergenerational mobility and thus steepens the social gradient in natives’ labor market outcomes, whereas immigration from high-income countries levels it. These findings are robust with respect to a wide range of identifying assumptions. The analysis is based on high-quality population-wide administrative data from Norway, which is one of the rich-world countries with the most rapid rise in the immigrant population share over the past two decades. Our findings suggest that immigration can explain a considerable part of the observed relative decline in economic performance among natives with a lower-class background.

Wired and Hired: Employment Effects of Subsidized Broadband Internet for Low-Income Americans

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-482
Author(s):  
George W. Zuo
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Broadband Internet ◽  
Present Evidence ◽  
Employment Effects ◽  
Local Program ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
The Relationship

I present evidence on the relationship between broadband pricing and labor market outcomes for low-income individuals. Specifically, I estimate the effects of a Comcast service providing discounted broadband to qualifying low-income families. I use a triple differences strategy exploiting geographic variation in Comcast coverage, individual variation in eligibility, and temporal variation pre- and postlaunch. Local program availability increased employment rates and earnings of eligible individuals, driven by greater labor force participation and decreased probability of unemployment. Internet use increased substantially where the program was available. (JEL I32, J22, J31, L82, L86)

scholarly journals A Field Experiment to Test the Labor Market Value of a Credential from a For-Profit Postsecondary School

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Carolyn Arcand
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
School Type ◽  
Job Seekers ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Job Interview ◽  
For Profit

The attainment of postsecondary credentials holds particular promise in improving economic security for low-income single mothers. However, the type of school attended may matter when determining whether postsecondary credentials will foster positive labor market outcomes and financial stability for former students. This paper describes the pre-test of a field experiment to examine whether the school type listed on a job applicant’s resume has an impact on receiving a call for a job interview, in fields commonly pursued by low-income women. School types tested were for-profit schools and community colleges. Results revealed little difference in outcomes for job seekers with credentials from each school type. However, more reliable results could be obtained by repeating this study in a stronger economy, using job candidates with minimal applicable experience, applying to a greater number of positions, and selecting occupations for which an academic credential is widely seen as a prerequisite for entry.DOI:10.2458/azu_jmmss_v5i1_arcand

scholarly journals A Garden-Based Intervention to Improve Dietary Diversity in Kenyan School Children: Results from a Natural Experiment

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 810-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Benjamin-Neelon ◽  
Tiange Liu ◽  
Eve S Puffer ◽  
Liz Turner ◽  
Daniel Zaltz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Food Group ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Severe Drought ◽  
School Gardens ◽  
Post Intervention

Abstract Objectives School gardens may improve child diet, but little is known about their effectiveness in rural areas in low-income countries. We evaluated the ability of school gardens to improve child diet in rural Kenya. We hypothesized that children in intervention schools would improve their dietary diversity and specifically their produce intake. Methods An non-government organization installed gardens in 2 primary schools. We selected 2 geographically proximal additional schools as comparisons. We conducted baseline assessments in 2013, prior to garden installation, and follow-up assessments a year later in 2014 in all 4 schools. We measured child dietary intake via a single 24-hour recall. We calculated dietary diversity using the women's dietary diversity score (WDDS) (continuous) and also examined each of the 10 food group components defined as adequate ≥15 g (binary). We conducted marginal linear or logistic regression models using a generalized estimating equation and included an exposure x time interaction to assess differences in outcomes between intervention and comparison schools from baseline to follow up. We controlled for child age, gender, and orphan status. Results We assessed 855 children (n = 438 intervention; n = 417 comparison) at baseline and 688 children (n = 383 intervention; n = 305 comparison) at follow up. Children in intervention schools were 51.8% male, compared to 56.5% in comparison schools. Mean (standard deviation) age was 11.6 (2.1) years in intervention and 11.8 (2.3) years in comparison schools. All children's WDDS worsened post-intervention. In adjusted difference in difference analyses, WDDS did not differ in intervention vs. comparison schools pre- to post-intervention (β 0.04, CI −0.19, 0.27). However, we observed less of a decrease in meeting adequate intake for pulses (OR 2.18, CI 1.18, 4.01) and other fruits (OR 1.55, CI 1.00, 2.40) in intervention versus comparison schools. Conversely, children in comparison schools had less of a decrease in meat, poultry, and fish compared to children in intervention schools (OR 0.67, CI 0.45, 0.99). Conclusions Children's WDDS worsened in all 4 schools, likely due to a severe drought that affected the region in 2014. We observed some differences in intervention vs. comparison children, but cannot attribute these improvements to school gardens. Funding Sources Duke Global Health Institute.

scholarly journals Vocational training programs and youth labor market outcomes: Evidence from Nepal

2019 ◽  
Vol 136 ◽  
pp. 71-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shubha Chakravarty ◽  
Mattias Lundberg ◽  
Plamen Nikolov ◽  
Juliane Zenker
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Vocational Training ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Labor Market Outcomes ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Youth Labor Market

The Effects of Alternative School Programs on High School Completion and Labor Market Outcomes

1986 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S Catterall ◽  
David Stern
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Alternative High School ◽  
High School Completion ◽  
Dropping Out ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Market Effects ◽  
School Programs ◽  
High School Programs ◽  
Employment Rates

This research probes two questions regarding participation in alternative high school programs: Does participation reduce the likelihood of students dropping out? Does participation lead to enhanced experiences in the labor market after students leave school? Using the California subsample of the 1980 and 1982 High School and Beyond surveys (involving nearly 3,000 sophomores and 3,000 seniors), vocational education and participation in other alternatives are scrutinized. Our findings regarding the dropout-preventing effects of these programs are mixed: The assessment varies across different procedures used to control for prior propensity to dropout. Our findings for labor market effects are more definite. Participants in vocational and other alternative programs have generally higher employment rates and, for some, higher wages. Suggested extensions of this work are offered.

scholarly journals COVID: Not a Great Equalizer

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 376-393
Author(s):  
Vincenzo Galasso
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Working At Home ◽  
Service Workers ◽  
Highly Educated ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Low Educated ◽  
Great Equalizer

Abstract Coronavirus has been portrayed as the ‘great equalizer’. None seems immune to the virus and to the economic consequences of the lockdown measures imposed to contain its diffusion. We exploit novel data from two real-time surveys to study the early impact on the labor market of the lockdown in Italy—one of the two countries, with China, hit hard and early. We find that low-educated workers, blue collars, and low-income service workers were more likely to have stopped working both 3-week and 6-week after the lockdown. Low-educated workers were less likely to work from home. Blue collars worked more from their regular workplace, but not from home. Low-income service workers were instead less likely to work from the regular workplace. For both blue collars and low-income service workers, the monthly labor income dropped already in March. Some positive adjustments took place between the 3rd and the 6th week from the lockdown: the share of idle workers dropped, as the proportion of individuals working at home and from their regular workplace increased. However, these adjustments benefited mostly highly educated workers and white collars. Overall, low-income individuals faced worse labor market outcomes and suffered higher psychological costs. (JEL codes: J21, I24, and H12)

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