Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/35521 
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3910
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper studies the role of training vouchers and caseworkers in public training programs. Using a rich administrative data set, we apply matching and regression methods to measure the effect of the Hartz reform in Germany, which introduced training vouchers and imposed more selective criteria on participants. Besides estimating the overall reform effect, we isolate the effect induced by changes in the composition of program participants due to stricter selection by the caseworkers (selection effect) from the effect based on the introduction of vouchers (voucher effect). Analyzing the most important type of training in Germany, we find a slightly positive impact of the reform. Our decomposition results suggest that the selection effect is - if at all - slightly negative, and that the voucher effect increased both, the employment probability and earnings of the participants.
Subjects: 
Active labor market policy
program evaluation
matching
voucher
caseworker
training
Hartz reform
JEL: 
J64
J68
H43
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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