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Hard and Soft Skills in Vocational Training: Experimental Evidence from Colombia

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe Barrera-Osorio
  • Adriana Kugler
  • Mikko Silliman

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of an oversubscribed job-training program on skills and labor-market outcomes using both survey and administrative data. Overall, vocational training improves labor-market outcomes, particularly by increasing formal employment. A second round of randomization evaluates how applicants to otherwise similar job-training programs are affected by the extent that hard versus soft skills are emphasized in the curriculum. Admission to a vocational program that emphasizes technical relative to social skills generates greater short-term benefits, but these relative benefits quickly disappear, putting participants in the technical training on equal footing with their peers from the soft-skill training in under a year. Results from an additional randomization suggest that offering financial support for transportation and food increases the effectiveness of the program. The program fails to improve the soft skills or broader labor-market outcomes of women.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Adriana Kugler & Mikko Silliman, 2023. "Hard and Soft Skills in Vocational Training: Experimental Evidence from Colombia," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 37(3), pages 409-436.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:wbecrv:v:37:y:2023:i:3:p:409-436.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/wber/lhad007
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    Cited by:

    1. Philippe Aghion & Antonin Bergeaud & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith, 2023. "Social skills and the individual wage growth of less educated workers," IFS Working Papers W23/25, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Calderone, Margherita & Fiala, Nathan & Melyoki, Lemayon Lemilia & Schoofs, Annekathrin & Steinacher, Rachel, 2022. "Making intense skills training work at scale: Evidence on business and labor market outcomes in Tanzania," Ruhr Economic Papers 950, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    3. Brudevold-Newman,Andrew Peter & Ubfal,Diego Javier, 2023. "Returns to Soft Skills Training in Rwanda," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10489, The World Bank.
    4. Gómez, Maria Fernanda & González-Velosa, Carolina, 2023. "Can a Pay-for- Performance Program Help the Vulnerable find Jobs during a Pandemic?: Experimental Evidence from Empleate in Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12982, Inter-American Development Bank.
    5. Nicole McDonald & Jennifer Luke & Amy Cosby, 2024. "Non-Technical Skills Needed for the Current and Next-Generation Agricultural Workforce," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-11, July.
    6. Afridi, Farzana & Gupta, Tanu & Heath, Rachel & Mahajan, Kanika, 2025. "Smart Skilling: Experimental Evidence on Vocational Training Design," IZA Discussion Papers 18272, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Lordan, Grace & Josten, Cecily, 2021. "The accelerated value of social skills in knowledge work and the COVID-19 pandemic," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113364, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Amanda Chuan & Christian Lyhne Ibsen, 2022. "Skills for the Future? A Life Cycle Perspective on Systems of Vocational Education and Training," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(3), pages 638-664, May.
    9. Mikko Silliman & Hanna Virtanen, 2022. "Labor Market Returns to Vocational Secondary Education," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 197-224, January.
    10. Eric A. Hanushek & Babs Jacobs & Guido Schwerdt & Rolf van der Velden & Stan Vermeulen & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "Where Do STEM Graduates Stem From? The Intergenerational Transmission of Comparative Skill Advantages," CESifo Working Paper Series 9388, CESifo.
    11. Chowdhury, Shyamal & Hasan, Syed & Sharma, Uttam, 2024. "The Role of Trainee Selection in the Effectiveness of Vocational Training: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Nepal," IZA Discussion Papers 16705, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Da Mata, Daniel & Oliveira, Rodrigo & Silva, Diana, 2025. "Who benefits from job training programs? Evidence from a high-dosage program in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    13. Brudevold-Newman, Andrew & Ubfal, Diego, 2024. "Soft-skills, networking, and workforce entry: Impacts of a training program for recent graduates in Rwanda," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Harry Moroz & Mariana Viollaz, 2024. "The Future of Work in Central America and the Dominican Republic," World Bank Publications - Reports 42043, The World Bank Group.
    15. Mehmood, Sultan & Naseer, Shaheen & Chen, Daniel L., 2024. "Altruism in governance: Insights from randomized training for Pakistan's junior ministers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    16. Aramburu,Julian & Goicoechea,Ana & Mobarak,Ahmed Mushfiq, 2021. "Coding Bootcamps for Female Digital Employment : Evidence from an RCT in Argentina and Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9721, The World Bank.
    17. Matthew A. Lenard & Mikko Silliman, 2024. "Informal Social Interactions, Academic Achievement and Behaviour: Evidence from Peers on the School Bus," CESifo Working Paper Series 11115, CESifo.
    18. Adriana Lleras-Muney & Matthew Miller & Shuyang Sheng & Veronica T. Sovero, 2020. "Party On: The Labor Market Returns to Social Networks in Adolescence," NBER Working Papers 27337, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Felipe Barrera-Osorio & Adriana D. Kugler & Mikko I. Silliman, 2021. "Job Training Through Turmoil," NBER Working Papers 29565, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Beber, Bernd & Frohnweiler, Sarah & Lakemann, Tabea & Anti Partey, Peter & Schnars, Regina & Lay, Jann, 2025. "Skills trainings and Bayesian learning: A multisite randomized controlled trial in Ghana," Ruhr Economic Papers 1170, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I26 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Returns to Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - General
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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