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Assessing the External Validity of an Experimental Wage Subsidy

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  • Thierry Kamionka
  • Guy Lacroix

Abstract

In Canada, a policy aiming at helping single parents on social assistance become self-reliant was implemented on an experimental basis. The Self-Sufficiency Entry Effects Demonstration randomly selected a sample of 4,134 single parents who had applied for welfare between January 1994 and March 1995. It turned out only 3,315 took part in the experiment despite a 50% chance of receiving a generous, time-limited, earnings supplement conditional on finding a full-time job and leaving income assistance within a year. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a non-response rate of 20% is likely to harm the external validity of the experiment. We compare the estimated impact of the program using experimental data only to that obtained using additional data on individuals not taking part in the experiment. We find strong evidence of non-response bias in the data. When we correct for the bias, we find that estimates that rely on experimental data only significantly underestimate the true impact of the program.

Suggested Citation

  • Thierry Kamionka & Guy Lacroix, 2008. "Assessing the External Validity of an Experimental Wage Subsidy," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 357-384.
    • Handle: RePEc:adr:anecst:y:2008:i:91-92:p:357-384
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    Cited by:

    1. Thierry Kamionka & Jeremy Tanguy, 2022. "Avancées récentes de la recherche en microéconomie appliquée. Introduction," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 73(5), pages 663-668.
    2. Jeremy Lise & Shannon Seitz & Jeffrey Smith, 2015. "Evaluating search and matching models using experimental data," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-35, December.
    3. Lacroix, G & Brouard M-E, 2011. "Work Absenteeism Due to a Chronic Disease," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 11/15, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    4. Guy Lacroix & Dany Brouillette, 2011. "Assessing the impact of a wage subsidy for single parents on social assistance," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 44(4), pages 1195-1221, November.
    5. Sianesi, Barbara, 2017. "Evidence of randomisation bias in a large-scale social experiment: The case of ERA," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 198(1), pages 41-64.
    6. Bitler, Marianne P. & Gelbach, Jonah B. & Hoynes, Hilary W., 2008. "Distributional impacts of the Self-Sufficiency Project," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3-4), pages 748-765, April.
    7. Blasco, Sylvie & Crépon, Bruno & Kamionka, Thierry, 2012. "The Effects of On-the-job and Out-of-Employment Training Programmes on Labor Market Histories," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 1210, CEPREMAP.
    8. Thierry Kamionka & Xavier VU NGOC, 2015. "Trajectoire des jeunes sur le marché du travail, quartier d’origine et diplôme : une modélisation dynamique," Working Papers 2015-01, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments

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