Protection de l'emploi et formation des travailleurs en fin de carrière : l'expérience française de la contribution Delalande

From French data, this paper uses a difference-in-differences approach combined with propensity score matching to identify the effect of older workers employment protection on firm?s incentives to sponsor training. Laying off workers aged 50 and above between 1987 and 2008, French firms had to pay a tax to the unemployment insurance system, known as the Delalande tax. In 1999, the measure was subjected to a reform that increased due taxes but only in large firms. We find that this exogenous increase substantially rises firms? incentives to train the 45-49 age group of workers, especially low-skilled workers.