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Using Household Grants to Benchmark the Cost Effectiveness of a USAID Workforce Readiness Program

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  • Craig McIntosh
  • Andrew Zeitlin

Abstract

We use a randomized experiment to compare a workforce training program to cash transfers in Rwanda. Conducted in a sample of poor and underemployed youth, this study measures the impact of the training program not only relative to a control group but relative to the counterfactual of simply disbursing the cost of the program directly to beneficiaries. While the training program was successful in improving a number of core outcomes (productive hours, assets, savings, and subjective well-being), cost-equivalent cash transfers move all these outcomes as well as consumption, income, and wealth. In the head-to-head costing comparison cash proves superior across a number of economic outcomes, while training outperforms cash only in the production of business knowledge. We find little evidence of complementarity between human and physical capital interventions, and no signs of heterogeneity or spillover effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Craig McIntosh & Andrew Zeitlin, 2020. "Using Household Grants to Benchmark the Cost Effectiveness of a USAID Workforce Readiness Program," Papers 2009.01749, arXiv.org.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:2009.01749
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    Cited by:

    1. Cañedo, Ana P. & Fabregas, Raissa & Gupta, Prankur, 2023. "Emergency cash transfers for informal workers: Impact evidence from Mexico," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    2. Pracht, Wyatt & Ricker-Gilbert, Jacob, 2023. "The Impacts of an Employment Offer on the Aspirations of Rural Youth: Experimental Evidence from Kenya," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335612, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. McGuire, Joel & Kaiser, Caspar & Bach-Mortensen, Anders, 2020. "The impact of cash transfers on subjective well-being and mental health in low- and middle- income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis," SocArXiv ydr54, Center for Open Science.
    4. Craig McIntosh & Andrew Zeitlin, 2022. "Skills and Liquidity Barriers to Youth Employment: Medium-term Evidence from a Cash Benchmarking Experiment in Rwanda," Papers 2209.08574, arXiv.org.

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    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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