IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp4227.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Estimating the Effect of a Retraining Program on the Re-Employment Rate of Displaced Workers

Author

Listed:
  • Cavaco, Sandra

    (University of Paris 2)

  • Fougère, Denis

    (Sciences Po, Paris)

  • Pouget, Julien

    (ENSAE ParisTech)

Abstract

In this paper we estimate by matching techniques the effects of a French retraining program on the reemployment rate of displaced workers. This program, called "Conventions de conversion", was intended to improve reemployment prospects of displaced workers by proposing them retraining and job seeking assistance for a period of six months beginning just after the dismissal. Our empirical analysis is based upon non-experimental data collected by the French Ministry of Labour. Matching estimates show that this program succeeded in increasing the employment rate of trainees by approximately 6 points of percentage in the medium-term, namely in the second and third years after the date of entry into the program. This improvement is essentially due to an increase of their reemployment rate in regular jobs, namely jobs under long-term labour contracts.

Suggested Citation

  • Cavaco, Sandra & Fougère, Denis & Pouget, Julien, 2009. "Estimating the Effect of a Retraining Program on the Re-Employment Rate of Displaced Workers," IZA Discussion Papers 4227, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4227
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp4227.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stefan Bender & Christian Dustmann & David Margolis & Costas Meghir, 1998. "Worker Displacement in France and Germany," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00370611, HAL.
    2. Andrea Ichino & Fabrizia Mealli & Tommaso Nannicini, 2008. "From temporary help jobs to permanent employment: what can we learn from matching estimators and their sensitivity?," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 23(3), pages 305-327.
    3. David Margolis, 1999. "Worker Displacement in France," Post-Print halshs-00370401, HAL.
    4. David N. Margolis, 1999. "Part-Year Employment, Slow Reemployment, and Earnings Losses: The Case of Worker Displacement in France," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: The Creation and Analysis of Employer-Employee Matched Data, pages 375-416, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    5. Jacobson, Louis S & LaLonde, Robert J & Sullivan, Daniel G, 1993. "Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(4), pages 685-709, September.
    6. Bernd Fitzenberger & Aderonke Osikominu & Robert Völter, 2008. "Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 321-355.
    7. Henry S. Farber, 1999. "Alternative and Part-Time Employment Arrangements as a Response to Job Loss," NBER Working Papers 7002, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Gibbons, Robert & Katz, Lawrence F, 1991. "Layoffs and Lemons," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(4), pages 351-380, October.
    9. Louis S. Jacobson & Robert J. LaLonde & Daniel G. Sullivan, 1993. "Long-term earnings losses of high-seniority displaced workers," Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 17(Nov), pages 2-20.
    10. Cavaco, Sandra & Fougère, Denis & Pouget, Julien, 2005. "Estimating the Effect of a Retraining Program for Displaced Workers on Their Transition to Permanent Jobs," IZA Discussion Papers 1513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Michael Gerfin & Michael Lechner, 2002. "A Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 854-893, October.
    12. Henry S. Farber, 2003. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-2001," Working Papers 113, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    13. Jacobson, Louis & LaLonde, Robert & G. Sullivan, Daniel, 2005. "Estimating the returns to community college schooling for displaced workers," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 271-304.
    14. repec:adr:anecst:y:2008:i:91-92:p:17 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Petra E. Todd & Jeffrey A. Smith, 2001. "Reconciling Conflicting Evidence on the Performance of Propensity-Score Matching Methods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(2), pages 112-118, May.
    16. David Card & Jochen Kluve & Andrea Weber, 2010. "Active Labour Market Policy Evaluations: A Meta-Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(548), pages 452-477, November.
    17. Dorsett, Richard, 2006. "The new deal for young people: effect on the labour market status of young men," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 405-422, June.
    18. Fougere, Denis & Kramarz, Francis & Magnac, Thierry, 2000. "Youth employment policies in France," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(4-6), pages 928-942, May.
    19. Annette Bergemann & Bernd Fitzenberger & Stefan Speckesser, 2009. "Evaluating the dynamic employment effects of training programs in East Germany using conditional difference-in-differences," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(5), pages 797-823.
    20. Annette Bergemann & Gerard J. Van Den Berg, 2008. "Active Labor Market Policy Effects for Women in Europe - A Survey," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 385-408.
    21. Barbara Sianesi, 2004. "An Evaluation of the Swedish System of Active Labor Market Programs in the 1990s," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 133-155, February.
    22. Lechner Michael & Miquel Ruth & Wunsch Conny, 2007. "The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 8(4), pages 468-509, December.
    23. Paul Swaim & Michael Podgursky, 1991. "The Distribution of Economic Losses among Displaced Workers: A Replication," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(4), pages 742-755.
    24. Michael Lechner & Ruth Miquel & Conny Wunsch, 2011. "Long‐Run Effects Of Public Sector Sponsored Training In West Germany," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 742-784, August.
    25. Edwin Leuven & Barbara Sianesi, 2003. "PSMATCH2: Stata module to perform full Mahalanobis and propensity score matching, common support graphing, and covariate imbalance testing," Statistical Software Components S432001, Boston College Department of Economics, revised 01 Feb 2018.
    26. A. Smith, Jeffrey & E. Todd, Petra, 2005. "Does matching overcome LaLonde's critique of nonexperimental estimators?," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1-2), pages 305-353.
    27. Liliane Bonnal & Denis Fougère & Anne Sérandon, 1997. "Evaluating the Impact of French Employment Policies on Individual Labour Market Histories," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(4), pages 683-713.
    28. Stenberg, Anders & Westerlund, Olle, 2008. "Does comprehensive education work for the long-term unemployed," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 54-67, February.
    29. Centeno, Luis & Centeno, Mário & Novo, Álvaro A., 2009. "Evaluating job-search programs for old and young individuals: Heterogeneous impact on unemployment duration," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 12-25, January.
    30. Thomas Brodaty & Bruno Crépon & Denis Fougère, 2000. "Using Matching Estimators to Evaluate Alternative Youth Employment Programs : Evidence from France, 1986-1988," Working Papers 2000-25, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    31. Michael Lechner & Ruth Miquel & Conny Wunsch, 2007. "The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 8(4), pages 468-509, November.
    32. repec:adr:anecst:y:2008:i:91-92:p:15 is not listed on IDEAS
    33. Jespersen, Svend T. & Munch, Jakob R. & Skipper, Lars, 2008. "Costs and benefits of Danish active labour market programmes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 859-884, October.
    34. Yolanda Kodrzycki, 1997. "Training programs for displaced workers: what do they accomplish?," New England Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, issue May, pages 39-57.
    35. Sascha O. Becker & Andrea Ichino, 2002. "Estimation of average treatment effects based on propensity scores," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 2(4), pages 358-377, November.
    36. Henry S. Farber, 2003. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-2001," Working Papers 850, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    37. Lalive, R. & van Ours, J.C. & Zweimüller, J., 2000. "The Impact of Active Labor Market Programs and Benefit Entitlement Rules on the Duration of Unemployment," Discussion Paper 2000-41, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    38. Adriano Paggiaro & Enrico Rettore & Ugo Trivellato, 2009. "The Effect of a Longer Eligibility to a Labour Market Programme for Dismissed Workers," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 23(1), pages 37-66, March.
    39. Bruce C. Fallick, 1996. "A Review of the Recent Empirical Literature on Displaced Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 50(1), pages 5-16, October.
    40. Olivier Blanchard & Augustin Landier, 2001. "The Perverse Effects of Partial Labor Market Reform: Fixed Duration Contracts in France," NBER Working Papers 8219, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    41. Dar, Amit & Gill, Indermit S, 1998. "Evaluating Retraining Programs in OECD Countries: Lessons Learned," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 13(1), pages 79-101, February.
    42. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    43. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097, Elsevier.
    44. O Blanchard & A Landier, 2002. "The Perverse Effects of Partial Labour Market Reform: fixed--Term Contracts in France," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(480), pages 214-244, June.
    45. Henry Farber, 2003. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-2001," NBER Working Papers 9707, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    46. Lori G. Kletzer, 1998. "Job Displacement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 115-136, Winter.
    47. Farber, Henry S, 1999. "Alternative and Part-Time Employment Arrangements as a Response to Job Loss," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(4), pages 142-169, October.
    48. Sianesi, Barbara, 2008. "Differential effects of active labour market programs for the unemployed," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 370-399, June.
    49. Henry S. Farber, 2003. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-2001," Working Papers 850, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    50. Henry S. Farber, 2003. "Job Loss in the United States, 1981-2001," Working Papers 113, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies..
    51. repec:pri:cepsud:89farber is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bernd Fitzenberger & Michael Lechner & Jeffrey Smith, 2013. "Estimation of treatment effects: recent developments and applications," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 1-11, February.
    2. Abou Kane & Mamadou Laye Ndoye & Aliou Seck, 2020. "Efficacité du dispositif d'accompagnement à l'insertion professionnelle des jeunes au sénégal," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(S1), pages 106-118, November.
    3. Pavel Stafek & Petra Sanova & Zuzana Novotna & Adriana Laputkova, 2016. "Effectiveness of Retraining as an Instrument for Solving the Problem of Structural Unemployment in the Czech Republic," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 6(3), pages 926-932.
    4. Melvin Vooren & Carla Haelermans & Wim Groot & Henriette Maassen van den Brink, 2022. "Make IT Work: The Labor Market Effects of Information Technology Retraining in the Netherlands," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 323-342, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lechner, Michael & Wunsch, Conny, 2013. "Sensitivity of matching-based program evaluations to the availability of control variables," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 111-121.
    2. Cavaco, Sandra & Fougère, Denis & Pouget, Julien, 2005. "Estimating the Effect of a Retraining Program for Displaced Workers on Their Transition to Permanent Jobs," IZA Discussion Papers 1513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Stephan, Gesine & Pahnke, André, 2008. "The Relative Effectiveness of Selected Active Labour Market Programmes and the Common Support Problem," IZA Discussion Papers 3767, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Martin Biewen & Bernd Fitzenberger & Aderonke Osikominu & Marie Paul, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Public-Sponsored Training Revisited: The Importance of Data and Methodological Choices," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(4), pages 837-897.
    5. Kelly, Elish & McGuinness, Seamus & O'Connell, Philip J., 2011. "What Can Active Labour Market Policies Do?," Papers EC1, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
    6. Lechner Michael & Miquel Ruth & Wunsch Conny, 2007. "The Curse and Blessing of Training the Unemployed in a Changing Economy: The Case of East Germany After Unification," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 8(4), pages 468-509, December.
    7. Manuela Deidda & Adriana Di Liberto & Marta Foddi & Giovanni Sulis, 2015. "Employment subsidies, informal economy and women’s transition into work in a depressed area: evidence from a matching approach," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Caliendo, Marco & Mahlstedt, Robert & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2017. "Unobservable, but unimportant? The relevance of usually unobserved variables for the evaluation of labor market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-25.
    9. Michael Lechner & Conny Wunsch, 2009. "Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment Is High?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(4), pages 653-692, October.
    10. Thomas Kruppe & Julia Lang, 2018. "Labour market effects of retraining for the unemployed: the role of occupations," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(14), pages 1578-1600, March.
    11. Michael Lechner & Stephan Wiehler, 2011. "Kids or courses? Gender differences in the effects of active labor market policies," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 783-812, July.
    12. Bergemann, Annette & van den Berg, Gerard J., 2008. "From Giving Birth to Paid Labor: The Effects of Adult Education for Prime-Aged Mothers," IZA Discussion Papers 3600, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Cerqua, Augusto & Urwin, Peter & Thomson, Dave & Bibby, David, 2020. "Evaluation of education and training impacts for the unemployed: Challenges of new data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. von Greiff, Jenny, 2009. "Displacement and self-employment entry," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 556-565, October.
    15. Marcus Eliason & Donald Storrie, 2006. "Lasting or Latent Scars? Swedish Evidence on the Long-Term Effects of Job Displacement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(4), pages 831-856, October.
    16. Dauth, Christine & Lang, Julia, 2017. "Should the unemployed care for the elderly? : The effect of subsidized occupational and further training in elderly care," IAB-Discussion Paper 201713, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. Lang, Julia & Dauth, Christine, 2017. "Should the unemployed care for the elderly? The effect of subsidized occupational and further training in geriatric care," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168130, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Kluve, Jochen & Fertig, Michael & Jacobi, Lena & Nima, Leonhard & Schaffner, Sandra & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Card, David & Góra, Marek & Jensen, Peter & Leetmaa, Reelika & Patacchini, Eleonora & van , 2005. "Study on the effectiveness of ALMPs: Research project for the European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Final report," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 69929.
    19. Ossi Korkeamäki & Jukka Appelqvist & Tomi Kyyrä, 2007. "Quantile Regression Estimates of the Earnings Losses of Displaced Workers," EcoMod2007 23900045, EcoMod.
    20. Aderonke Osikominu, 2013. "Quick Job Entry or Long-Term Human Capital Development? The Dynamic Effects of Alternative Training Schemes," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(1), pages 313-342.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    matching estimates; displaced workers; retraining program; evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C41 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Duration Analysis; Optimal Timing Strategies
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4227. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.