Title: Reframing Active Labor Market Policy: Field Experiments on Barriers to Program Participation
(The paper is a joint work with Lukas Lehner (University of Oxford)).
Abstract: : "Governments struggle to attract unemployed workers to their widely offered job training programs. In a randomized field experiments with 11,000 job seekers, we investigate the barriers to participation in job training programs using information interventions designed to encourage participation. Raising awareness about the availability of job training increased program enrollment by 18%. Signaling program cost with a voucher on top to reduce internalized stigma increased completion by 28%. Effects were sizable and concentrated among women and low-income job seekers. Notably, increased job training did not result in higher employment or wages. These findings indicate that while low-cost informational interventions effectively boost participation, the overall success of job training programs in enhancing employment prospects hinges on their fundamental design."