Research and Media

WORKING PAPERS

Improving vocational education through youth empowerment: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in Colombia

an impact evaluation for Vivamos Mejor (https://www.vivamosmejor.ch/en)

What is the effect of adding a youth empowerment program to traditional vocational education for marginalized young adults? Vocational education might be a way to increase the labor market attachment of young adults, but it has shown little to no effect in achieving results. This paper aims to provide an answer to this puzzle by assessing the effect of training for disadvantaged young adults in Colombia using a randomized control trial where 300 young adults were sorted into three treatment groups: one receiving vocational education and youth empowerment training, one receiving vocational education only, and one untreated control group. The results of the study indicate that the youth empowerment program was initially succes ful in reducing informal employment, which is a source of lower incomes. The program also affected participants’ earnings positively, though these earnings come from the informal labor market. This effect is stronger for women, who move away from the informal sector compared to the general population.

This project is registered under RCT ID #AEARCTR-0003869

Hard skills, soft skills, and resilience to shocks: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic in Colombia

with Elena Esposito, Rafael Lalive, and Andrés Moya

Locust outbreaks and food insecurity

with Ulrich Eberle and Dominic Rohner

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