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Vocational training for unemployed youth in Latvia

Author

Listed:
  • Massimiliano Bratti
  • Corinna Ghirelli
  • Enkelejda Havari

    (LEM - Lille économie management - UMR 9221 - UA - Université d'Artois - UCL - Université catholique de Lille - Université de Lille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Giulia Santangelo

Abstract

We analyze the effectiveness of a vocational training (VT) programme targeting unemployed youth in Latvia, contributing to the scant literature on active labour market policies in transition countries. The programme we analyse is part of the Youth Guarantee scheme (2014–2020), the largest action launched by the European Union to combat youth unemployment after the 2008 financial crisis. Although the programme was targeted to youths aged between 15 and 29, priority was given to those younger than 25 years of age. We exploit this eligibility rule in a fuzzy regression discontinuity design framework to estimate the impact of VT participation on the probability of being employed and gross monthly labour income at given dates after the training. Using rich administrative data, we find that the age priority rule increased programme participation for the youngest group by about 10 percentage points. However, participation in the programme did not lead to statistically significant positive effects in labour market outcomes. We argue that this result could be due to some specific characteristics of the programme, namely the voucher system (potentially inducing lock-in effects) and the type of training (classroom instead of on-the-job training). Moreover, the programme was targeted at ex-ante low-employable individuals (e.g. without vocational qualifications), a fact that is confirmed by our analysis of the characteristics of the population of compliers with the age priority rule.

Suggested Citation

  • Massimiliano Bratti & Corinna Ghirelli & Enkelejda Havari & Giulia Santangelo, 2022. "Vocational training for unemployed youth in Latvia," Post-Print hal-03595691, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03595691
    DOI: 10.1007/s00148-021-00877-8
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    2. Ulku,Hulya & Georgieva,Dorina Peteva, 2022. "Unemployment Benefits, Active Labor Market Policies, and Labor Market Outcomes : Evidence from New Global Data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10027, The World Bank.
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    5. Nor-Eddine Oumansour & M'ssiyah Sakhr, 2024. "Innovation and employment: Estimation on a panel of countries using the software Stata," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2024 34, Stata Users Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Youth guarantee; Youth unemployment; Vocational training; Impact evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J18 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Public Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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