Language training for unemployed non-natives: who benefits the most?

Laura Helena Kivi (), Marko Sõmer () and Epp Kallaste ()
Additional contact information
Laura Helena Kivi: Estonian Center for Applied Research (CentAR), Tallinn, Estonia and School of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
Marko Sõmer: Estonian Center for Applied Research (CentAR), Tallinn, Estonia
Epp Kallaste: Estonian Center for Applied Research (CentAR), Tallinn, Estonia

Baltic Journal of Economics, 2020, vol. 20, issue 1, 34-58

Abstract: This study evaluates the local language training aimed at the unemployed in Estonia during 2015–2016. The impact of training on employment probability and labour income is estimated by combining propensity score matching with coarsened exact matching. The impact on the probability of being employed is found to be positive after the end of the lock-in effect. Two years after the start of the language training the effect is around 8 pp. The initial lock-in effect is smaller for more flexible and shorter courses, for those with lower initial level of language skills and for those living outside of the capital region. The long-term effect is higher for those with lower level of initial language skills and does not differ by the course type or region. The results indicate that the local language training helps the unemployed non-natives to find employment, but does not give them access to higher-paying positions.

Keywords: Language skills; immigrant population; unemployment; programme evaluation; matching (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 J24 J61 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/140609 ... 0403?needAccess=true (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bic:journl:v:20:y:2020:i:1:p:34-58

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Baltic Journal of Economics from Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Anna Zasova ().