81203
                  enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database



        Assisting the Transition from Workfare to Work: A Randomized Experiment

      Author(s)            Emanuela Galasso, Martin Ravallion, Agustin Salvia
      Contact              egalasso@worldbank.org

      Country              Argentina

  Organizing Theme         Economic Opportunities and Access to Assets

       Status              Completed

Intervention Category      Cash Transfer, Training

       Sector              Social Protection
                           Argentina's Proempleo Experiment, conducted in 1998-2000, was designed
                           to assess whether a wage subsidy and specialized training could assist the
                           transition from workfare to regular work. Randomly sampled workfare participants
                           in a welfare-dependent urban area were given a voucher that entitled an
                           employer to a sizable wage subsidy; a second sample also received the option of
                           skill training; and a third sample formed the control group. The authors find
      Abstract             that voucher recipients had a higher probability of employment than did the
                           control group, even though the rate of actual take-up of vouchers by the hiring
                           employers was very low. The employment gains were in the informal sector and
                           largely confined to female workers, younger workers, and more educated workers.
                           Skill training had no statistically significant impact overall, though once the
                           analysis corrects for selective compliance, an impact for those with sufficient
                           prior education is found.
 Gender Connection         Gender Informed Analysis

  Gender Outcomes          Female labor force participation, wages

     IE Design             Randomized Control Trial
                           The intervention had two treatment arms and a control group. The first treatment provided
                           a voucher that provided a potential employer a wage subsidy to cover part of the wages
    Intervention
                           paid to the employee. The second arm paid for training as well as the wage subsidy. A third
                           arm served as the control group.
 Intervention Period       1998-2000
                           The target population for the experiment was the set of beneficiaries of temporary
  Sample population
                           employment programs. In all 953 workfare participants answered the baseline survey in full.
                           The study compared individuals who received an employment voucher, individuals who
Comparison conditions      received a voucher and vocational training, and a control group who received no
                           intervention.
   Unit of analysis        Individual Level



   Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                     1
                   enGender Impact: The World Bank’s Gender Impact Evaluation Database


   Evaluation Period        The study conducted a follow up survey every six months for 18 months.
                            The voucher participants had a higher probability of employment than the control group,
                            yet most of the employment gains were in temporary employment. The impact on the gain
                            in wage employment is largely confined to women, young workers and more educated
        Results
                            workers. There is no impact of the subsidy on current incomes. The total impact of training
                            is not statistically significant. The takeup of the subsidy was quite low, suggesting that large
                            scale change would require change in demand.
                            Selected assignment within randomization may have biased the results. Also, the effects
Primary study limitations
                            from a small program may not have external validity.
    Funding Source
                            Galasso, E., Ravallion, M., & Salvia, A. (2004). Assisting the transition from workfare to
      Reference(s)
                            work: A randomized experiment. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 128-142.
    Link to Studies
                            http://www.jstor.org/stable/4126640
       Microdata




    Last updated: 14 August 2013                                                                         2