Abstract:
This paper presents the results of a randomized experiment on the long term impacts of a youth training program. The paper analyzes labor impacts six years after the training, including labor market histories of young people, and is the first rigorous long-term evaluation of a training program in developing countries. On a group of youngsters that were around 22 years old at the time of training and 28 years old in the follow-up, we document significant impacts on the quality of employment, particularly for men, and impacts for both men and women in the largest city (Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic). There are no impacts on average employment, which is consistent with the low unemployment in countries with high informality and no unemployment insurance. However, we document large impacts on the percentage of participants that receive health insurance through their employer, a good proxy of formality in the Dominican Republic. The results of this paper are consistent with the short-term findings, and shows that for the youngsters that benefit from these programs in the short run, the impacts are long-lasting.
