Research

Selection into Job Training Programs: Evidence from Indonesia
Dissertation

Despite being the most common type of Active Labor Market Policies, job training programs are proven in the literature to have modest impacts. Using the Indonesia Labor Force Survey, I model individual awareness, application decisions, selection criteria, and the program’s effects on labor market outcomes of Indonesia’s national job training program (Program Kartu Prakerja). To extend the analysis, I incorporate the Indonesia Family Life Survey to simulate lifetime income as the key determinant of an individual’s application decision, treating stigma as a cost of participation. I allow the error terms across all equations to be correlated and estimate the model using maximum simulated likelihood, with probabilities simulated using the GHK algorithm. I find that program participation significantly increases the probability of employment but decreases log monthly wages. The primary contribution of this paper is a counterfactual analysis of alternative selection mechanisms designed to improve labor market outcomes for both the overall population and key subgroups.

The Production of Multidimensional Health and Health Inequality at Older Ages with Robert Millard and Steven Stern