Estimating the Effects of Lenght of Exposure to Traning Program: The Case of Job Corps (original) (raw)
Related papers
Review of Economics and Statistics, 2012
We semiparametrically estimate average causal effects of different lengths of exposure to academic and vocational instruction in the Job Corps (JC) under the assumption that selection into different lengths is based on a rich set of observed covariates and time-invariant factors. We find that the estimated effects on future earnings increase in the length of exposure and that the marginal effects of additional instruction decrease with length of exposure. We also document differences in the estimated effects across demographic groups, which are particularly large between males and females. Finally, our results suggest an important lock-in effect in JC training.
Estimating the Effects of Length of Exposure to a Training Program: The Case of Job Corps
2007
Most of the literature on the evaluation of training programs focuses on the effect of participation on a particular outcome (e.g. earnings). The "treatment" is generally represented by a binary variable equal to one if participation in the program occurs, and equal to zero if no participation occurs. While the use of a binary treatment indicator is attractive for ease of interpretation and estimation, it treats all exposure the same. The extent of exposure to the treatment, however, is potentially important in determining the outcome; particularly in training programs where a main feature is the varying length of the training spells of participating individuals. In this paper, we illustrate how recently developed methods for the estimation of causal effects from continuous treatments can be used to learn about the consequences of heterogeneous lengths of enrollment in the evaluation of training programs. We apply these methods to data on Job Corps (JC), America's largest and most comprehensive job training program for disadvantaged youth. The length of exposure is a significant source of heterogeneity in these data: while the average participation spell in JC is 28 weeks, its standard deviation and interdecile range are 27 and 62 weeks, respectively. We estimate average causal effects of different lengths of exposure to JC using the "generalized propensity score" under the assumption that the length of the individual's JC spell is randomly assigned, conditional on a rich set of covariates. Finally, using this approach, we document important differences across different spell lengths and across three racial and ethnic groups of participants (blacks, whites and Hispanics) that help understand why the benefits these groups receive from JC are so disparate from estimates derived using traditional methods.
Going beyond LATE : Bounding Average Treatment Effects of Job Corps Training
Journal of Human Resources
Going Beyond LATE: Bounding Average Treatment Effects of Job Corps Training * We derive nonparametric sharp bounds on average treatment effects with an instrumental variable (IV) and use them to evaluate the effectiveness of the Job Corps (JC) training program for disadvantaged youth. We concentrate on the population average treatment effect (ATE) and the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT), which are parameters not point identified with an IV under heterogeneous treatment effects. The main assumptions employed to bound the ATE and ATT are monotonicity in the treatment of the average outcomes of specified subpopulations, and mean dominance assumptions across the potential outcomes of these subpopulations. Importantly, the direction of the mean dominance assumptions can be informed from data, and some of our bounds do not require an outcome with bounded support. We employ these bounds to assess the effectiveness of the JC program using data from a randomized social experiment with non-compliance (a common feature of social experiments). Our empirical results indicate that the effect of JC on eligible applicants (the target population
Advances in Econometrics - Theory and Applications, 2011
The analysis focuses on the impact of government-sponsored training programs aimed at disadvantaged male youths on their labour market transitions. The richness of the data at our disposal allows us to recreate very detailed individual histories over a relatively long period. We use a continuous time duration model to estimate the density of duration times in as many as seven states, controlling for the endogeneity of an individual's training status. We investigate the sensitivity of the parameter estimates by comparing a typical non-parametric specification with a series of parametric two-factor loading models, as well as a parametric three-factor loading model. Our results show that young, poorly educated males who participate in welfare training programs do worse on the labour market than those who do not participate. On the other hand, participation in unemployment training programs provides them some benefits. In general, we find that duration times in any of the seven states considered are sensitive to variations in program parameters such as welfare benefits, policy variables such as the minimum wage rate, and in the economic environment as proxied by the unemployment rate.
2017
Using data from a randomized evaluation of the Job Corps (JC) training program, we estimate nonparametric bounds for average and quantile treatment effects of training on employment and unemployment duration. Under relatively weak assumptions, we bound these effects addressing three pervasive problems in randomized evaluations: sample selection, censoring, and noncompliance. The first arises when the individuals’ decision to experience employment or unemployment spells is endogenous and potentially affected by the program. Censoring arises when the duration outcome is fully observed only for individuals who have completed a full spell by the end of the observation period, with the extent of censoring being potentially affected by training. Noncompliance is present when some assigned participants do not receive training and some assigned nonparticipants receive training. Ignoring these issues would yield biased estimates of the effects. Our results indicate that JC training increases...
Bounds on Average and Quantile Treatment Effects of Job Corps Training on Wages
Journal of Human Resources, 2013
We assess the effectiveness of Job Corps (JC), the largest job training program targeting disadvantaged youth in the United States, by constructing nonparametric bounds for the average and quantile treatment effects of the program on wages. Our preferred estimates point toward convincing evidence of positive effects of JC on wages both at the mean and throughout the wage distribution. For the different demographic groups analyzed, the statistically significant estimated average effects are bounded between 4.6 and 12 percent, while the quantile treatment effects are bounded between 2.7 and 11.7 percent. Furthermore, we find that the program's effect on wages varies across quantiles and groups. Blacks likely experience larger impacts in the lower part of their wage distribution, while Whites likely experience larger impacts in the upper part of their distribution. Non-Hispanic Females show statistically significant impacts in the upper part of their distribution but not in the lower part.
Bounds on Average and Quantile Treatment Eects of Job Corps Training on Participants'Wages
2011
This paper assesses the e¤ect of the U.S. Job Corps (JC), the nations largest and most comprehensive job training program targeting disadvantaged youth, on wages. We employ partial identi cation techniques to construct nonparametric bounds for the average causal e¤ect and the quantile treatment e¤ects of the JC program on participantswages. Our preferred estimates point toward convincing evidence of positive impacts of JC on participantswages throughout the conditional wage distribution, falling between 1.5 and 15.5 percent. Furthermore, when breaking up the sample into demographic subgroups, we nd that the programs e¤ect on wages varies, with Black participants in the lower part of the wage distribution likely realizing larger impacts relative to Whites, whose larger impacts occur in the upper part of their distribution. Non-Hispanic Females in the lower part of the wage distribution do not observe statistically signi cant positive e¤ects of JC on