Learning and Earning: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India

By Pushkar Maitra, Subha Mani. Social Science Research Network, 2017

133 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This paper estimates the short-and-medium-run effects of participating in a subsidized vocational training program aimed at improving labor market outcomes of women residing in low-income households in a developing country. We combine pre-intervention data with two rounds of post-intervention data from a field experiment to quantify the short-and-medium-run effects of the program. In the short-run, we find that program participants are significantly more likely to be employed, work additional hours, and earn more. These short-run impact estimates are all sustained in the medium-run. We also identify credit constraints, local access, and lack of proper child care support as important barriers to program participation and completion. We are able to rule out two alternative mechanisms -- signalling and change in behavior that can drive these findings. Finally, a simple cost-benefit analysis suggests that the program is highly cost effective.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Gender Studies, Safety Research

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/2068d47e31905ab31e2338299c5020948e55cc06

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Citations in the corpus

Promoting Women's Economic Empowerment: What Works? (2014, background): “Continued Study Features Sample Intervention Findings Attanasio, Kugler, and Meghir (2011) Vocational training in urban Colombia Unemployed young people placed in lowest two deciles of income distribution 3 months in-classroom training and 3 months of on-the-job training; trainees receive daily stip”
Generating Skilled Self-Employment in Developing Countries: Experimental Evidence from Uganda* (2014, background): “In India there were modest impacts on women’s work and earnings (Maitra and Mani 2012).”
Generating Employment in Poor and Fragile States: Evidence from Labor Market and Entrepreneurship Programs (2015, background): “In India there were modest impacts on women’s work and earnings (Maitra and Mani, 2012).”
How Effective are Active Labor Market Policies in Developing Countries? A Critical Review of Recent Evidence (2017, background): “An exception is Maitra and Mani (2017), where the increase in income represents a 95.7 percent increase on the control group’s mean.”