Soft Skills or Hard Cash? The Impact of Training and Wage Subsidy Programs on Female Youth Employment in Jordan

Throughout the Middle East, unemployment rates of educated youth have been persistently high and female labor force participation, low. This paper studies the impact of a randomized experiment in Jordan designed to assist female community college graduates find employment. One randomly chosen group of graduates was given a voucher that would pay an employer a subsidy equivalent to the minimum wage for up to 6 months if they hired the graduate; a second group was invited to attend 45 hours of employability skills training designed to provide them with the soft skills employers say graduates often lack; a third group was offered both interventions; and the fourth group forms the control group. The analysis finds that the job voucher led to a 40 percentage point increase in employment in the short-run, but that most of this employment is not formal, and that the average effect is much smaller and no longer statistically significant 4 months after the voucher period has ended. The voucher does appear to have persistent impacts outside the capital, where it almost doubles the employment rate of graduates, but this appears likely to largely reflect displacement effects. Soft-skills training has no average impact on employment, although again there is a weakly significant impact outside the capital. The authors elicit the expectations of academics and development professionals to demonstrate that these findings are novel and unexpected. The results suggest that wage subsidies can help increase employment in the short term, but are not a panacea for the problems of high urban female youth unemployment.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Groh, Matthew, Krishnan, Nandini, McKenzie, David, Vishwanath, Tara
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2012-07
Subjects:	ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS, ACCESS TO JOBS, ACCOUNTING, ACTIVE LABOR, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICIES, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET POLICY, ACTIVE LABOR MARKET PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, AGE GROUPS, ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN, ATTRITION, BANK ACCOUNT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER, CAREERS, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOM TRAINING, CLERKS, COLLEGE GRADUATES, COLLEGE STUDENTS, COMMUNITY COLLEGE, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, CURRICULUM, CUSTOMER SERVICE, DEVELOPMENT BANK, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS, DISADVANTAGED GROUP, DISADVANTAGED GROUPS, DISADVANTAGED YOUTH, DISPLACEMENT, DISPLACEMENT EFFECT, DISPLACEMENT EFFECTS, EARNINGS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATED WOMEN, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM, EMPLOYABILITY, EMPLOYEE, EMPLOYER, EMPLOYERS, EMPLOYMENT, EMPLOYMENT DYNAMICS, EMPLOYMENT EFFECT, EMPLOYMENT IMPACT, EMPLOYMENT IMPACTS, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES, EMPLOYMENT POLICY, EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS, EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS, EMPLOYMENT RATE, EMPLOYMENT STATUS, EMPOWERMENT, ENROLLMENT, FAMILIES, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, FEMALE LABOR, FEMALE LABOR FORCE, FEMALE STUDENTS, FINAL EXAMINATIONS, FINANCIAL MEANS, FINDING JOBS, FINDING WORK, FIRM SIZE, FIRM SURVEY, FIRM SURVEYS, FORMAL SCHOOLING, FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT, GENDER, GENDER EQUALITY, GENERAL EQUILIBRIUM, GIRLS, GROUP TRAINING, GROUP WORKER, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT, HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, HOUSEHOLD WEALTH, INCOME, INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, INTERNATIONAL BANK, INTERVENTIONS, INVENTORY, JOB EXPERIENCE, JOB SATISFACTION, JOB SEARCH, JOBS, LABOR ECONOMICS, LABOR FORCE, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION, LABOR FORCE SURVEY, LABOR LAW, LABOR LAWS, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES, LABOR MARKETS, LABOR REGULATIONS, LABOR RELATIONS, LEADERSHIP, LEARNING, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIBRARIES, LIFE SKILLS, LITERATURE, LOCAL UNIVERSITIES, LOW EMPLOYMENT, MALE WORKERS, MENTAL HEALTH, MINIMUM WAGE, MINIMUM WAGES, MOTIVATION, NURSERY SCHOOL, NURSERY SCHOOLS, OCCUPATIONS, ON-THE-JOB TRAINING, OPEN ACCESS, OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN, PAPERS, PARTICIPATION RATES, PAYROLL TAXES, PERSONALITY, POLITICAL ECONOMY, POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION, PREJUDICE, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIVATE FIRMS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR ACTIVITY, PRIVATE SECTOR JOB, PRODUCTIVITY, PROGRAM ADMINISTRATOR, PUBLIC FINANCE, PUBLIC SECTOR JOB, RESEARCHERS, SCHOOLS, SECRETARIES, SKILLED WORKERS, SKILLS TRAINING, SOCIAL SECURITY, SOURCE OF INCOME, SPECIAL EDUCATION, TEACHER, TEACHERS, TECHNICAL SKILLS, TEMPORARY JOBS, TRAINING COMPONENT, TRAINING CONTENT, TRAINING COSTS, TRAINING COURSE, TRAINING FACILITIES, TRAINING GROUP, TRAINING IMPACT, TRAINING INDIVIDUALS, TRAINING PROGRAM, TRAINING PROGRAMS, TRAINING VOUCHER, TUITION, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, UNIVERSITIES, UNIVERSITY ADMISSIONS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY DEGREE, UNIVERSITY GRADUATES, UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, VOUCHERS, WAGE EMPLOYMENT, WAGE SUBSIDIES, WAGE SUBSIDY, WAGE SUBSIDY EVALUATIONS, WAGE SUBSIDY INTERVENTION, WAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAMS, WOMAN, WORK EXPERIENCE, WORKER, WORKERS, WORKING CONDITIONS, WORKING HOURS, YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT, YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, Microdata Set,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/07/16530040/soft-skills-or-hard-cash-impact-training-wage-subsidy-programs-female-youth-employment-jordan https://hdl.handle.net/10986/11970
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