Labor Markets
In addition to supporting policymakers in applying evidence from randomized evaluations to their work, sector chairs and staff write policy insights that synthesize general lessons emerging from the research, condense results from evaluations in policy publications and evaluation summaries, and fund new research through the Jobs and Opportunity Initiative.
File: Policy publication
Job Placement and Displacement
Career counseling for young, college-educated job seekers in France helped them find work sooner, but this improvement came at the expense of jobs for those who did not receive counseling, and it did not translate into a long-term increase in employment rates.
File: Policy publication
Inspiring Success: Personalized Trainings for Microenterprises
An randomized evaluation found that adding sessions with role models and individualized assistance to intensive training courses for microentrepreneurs increased their household incomes, mainly through improved business practices and performances
Evaluation
The Effects of Subsidized Trainings on Young Workers and Small Firms: Evidence from Uganda
Researchers evaluated the impact of offering either subsidized vocational training to unemployed youth or subsidized apprenticeships for firms on youth employment and earning outcomes in urban Uganda. Both forms of subsidized training led to greater skill accumulation, higher employment rates, and...
Evaluation
Strengthening Women’s Financial Control Through Personal Bank Accounts
In countries like India, female labor force participation is low despite rapid economic growth. In partnership with the government of Madhya Pradesh, researchers offered women individual bank accounts to evaluate the impact of increasing women’s financial control on labor market participation and...
Evaluation
Returns to Apprenticeship Training in Ghana
Researchers measured the impact of a government apprenticeship program for youth in Ghana on wages, employment, skills, fertility, migration, and other outcomes. The results suggest that apprenticeship programs can provide youth with skills and transition them into self-employment.
Policy insight
Reducing search barriers for jobseekers
Programs focused on reducing job search barriers often improve jobseekers’ employment outcomes. These programs can help jobseekers identify where and how to look for jobs, encourage increased search effort, and help communicate qualifications to employers.
Evaluation
Providing Female Garment Workers with Soft Skills Training for Professional Advancement in Bangladesh
By comparing the impacts of soft skills training, a combination of soft and hard skills training, and no training, researchers seek to determine whether soft skills training alone is an effective and efficient way to increase the numbers of promotions offered to women and prepare women to be strong...
Person
Supreet Kaur
Supreet Kaur is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research is in development economics and behavioral economics, with a focus on labor markets.
Evaluation
The Impact of Extending Childcare on Female Labor in Chile
In Chile, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to measure the effect of providing free after-school care on women’s labor market outcomes. The program increased women’s labor force participation and employment, and increased the use of daycare for young children who were ineligible for the...
Person
Stefano Caria
Stefano Caria is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. He uses experimental and structural methods to investigate how to make labor markets work better for the poor.
