Research
Research
In this paper, I examine the impact of administrative delays in obtaining Spanish nationality on the long-term labor market outcomes of legal immigrants. Using Social Security data from 2006 to 2019 and an instrumental variable strategy, I find that longer delays in nationality acquisition result in significantly lower accumulated earnings over a ten-year period, driven by both lower wages and fewer days worked. Specifically, one additional year of delay reduces accumulated earnings over 10 years by 3.8 to 6.7 percent. To understand the underlying mechanisms, I study the short-term effects of nationality acquisition on job mobility and job quality. The results suggest that delays prolong periods of restricted mobility, hindering access to better employment opportunities. After obtaining the nationality, immigrants can afford a more selective and longer job search that pays off in the long run. These findings underscore the importance of timely nationality acquisition for improving economic outcomes and highlight the need for efficient administrative processes to support immigrant integration.
COVID-19 was a major shock to youth entrepreneurs and their businesses in Kenya. This paper studies the causal impact of grants—worth two months of baseline business revenue—and business development services as potential mitigation measures. Using multiple rounds of phone surveys up to seven months from the start of the pandemic, the analysis finds that youth who are assigned business grants or a combination of grants and business development services are significantly more likely to maintain a business, earn more revenue and profits, retain employees, and report higher confidence and satisfaction with life. There are no corresponding effects of business development services alone, although the follow-up period is extremely short for training effects to materialize. These results suggest that cash infusion for young entrepreneurs in times of an aggregate shock can be instrumental in moderating its immediate harmful impacts.
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (PID) show significantly lower labor force participation and employment rates compared to people without disabilities. Customized Employment (CE) has emerged as a promising approach to improve their labor market integration. This study provides the first causal evidence on CE’s effectiveness relative to the traditional Supported Employment (SE) approach through a randomized controlled trial in Spain. Our findings show that CE substantially improves employability by increasing employment probability, hours worked, and the number of labor contracts. It also enhances participation in training programs and internships. Beyond employment, CE significantly fosters social inclusion and well-being, with effects varying based on severity of disability, dependency recognition, and family involvement. These results underscore CE’s potential as an effective strategy for improving both labor market outcomes and social integration of PIDs.
During economic downturns, governments often provide business grants to stimulate entrepreneurship. However, in societies where kinship ties play a significant role, policy design may be suboptimal if spillover effects are not accounted for. This paper examines the role of family ties in shaping entrepreneurship and the effectiveness of business support measures during economic crises. Using a randomized controlled trial in Kenya, I find that entrepreneurs with larger families coped better with the crisis. However, when external funding was available, strong family ties reduced the positive effects on entrepreneurship. The analysis identifies mutual assistance, crowding-out effects, and managerial interference as key mechanisms. These findings highlight the dual role of family networks, acting as both a safety net and a constraint, with implications for the design of business support policies in developing economies.
A key challenge in social benefit systems worldwide is the Non-Take-Up (NTU) phenomenon, where eligible individuals do not claim the benefits to which they are entitled. This study evaluates the impact of two policy interventions—an in-person outreach program and a social media campaign—on reducing NTU through a large-scale randomized controlled trial involving 400 low-income neighborhoods in Spain. The interventions, targeted at reducing the NTU for the national minimum income scheme, were designed to address key informational and logistical barriers. The in-person treatment offered tailored support with application procedures and administrative coordination, while the social media campaign provided targeted information via Facebook and Instagram. We find that both interventions significantly increased application rates, though the temporal patterns differed—effects from in-person outreach were immediate, while those from social media emerged with a delay. However, neither intervention led to a substantial increase in benefit approvals, suggesting that while the interventions reduced initial frictions, persistent logistical barriers continue to hinder successful take-up. The results underscore the dual importance of informational and procedural hurdles in explaining NTU and point to the need for sustained, hands-on support to convert applications into successful claims.
Active labor market programs (ALMPs) are widely used to boost employment prospects for individuals at risk of social exclusion, though evidence on their effectiveness remains mixed. While most studies focus on single interventions, less is known about the impact of combining multiple ALMPs that may complement each other to enhance both employability and psychological well-being. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of a comprehensive ALMP bundle delivered in partnership with Red Cross Spain to facilitate reinsertion in the labor market. Participants were randomly assigned to a control group with access to Red Cross’s regular services or to a treatment group that received additional interventions, including psychological support, soft skills development, digital literacy, certified professional courses, and job search assistance. Using administrative data, we find no significant effects of the treatment on employment outcomes immediately after the intervention, or six and twelve months later. However, the program does improve certain outcomes related to employability and personal autonomy. Specifically, it reduces the risk of poor psychological health and enhances frustration tolerance, problem identification, knowledge of available resources, and digital skills. Participants also report a higher perceived likelihood of finding a job and use a broader range of job search methods.
By making use of data of immigrants in Argentina, this paper attempts to identify the role of social networks in the probability of working formally. My empirical strategy asks whether new immigrants surrounded by a social network with a high proportion of formal workers have a higher probability of becoming formal workers compared to those with more informal workers in their social network. The use of a Card-type instrument as well as destination and nationality fixed effects allows me to eliminate many of the problems in previous studies. The results provide the first empirical evidence of the importance of the social networks in labor informality and confirm that the quality of the network is important in determining the type of job obtained by new immigrants.