Can Arts-Based Interventions Enhance Labor Market Outcomes among Youth? Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Rio de Janeiro

Carla Calero (), Carlos Corseuil, Veronica Gonzales (), Jochen Kluve () and Yuri Soares ()
Additional contact information
Carla Calero: Inter-American Development Bank
Veronica Gonzales: Inter-American Development Bank
Jochen Kluve: KfW Development Bank
Yuri Soares: Inter-American Development Bank

No 8210, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper provides findings of a small-scale, innovative labor training program that uses expressive arts and theatre as a pedagogical tool. The corresponding life skills training component is combined with a technical component teaching vocational skills. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to rigorously evaluate the effectiveness of a training program constructed around expressive arts. Using a randomized assignment of favela youth into program and control groups, we look at the short-run treatment effects on a comprehensive set of outcomes including employment and earnings as well as measures of personality traits and risk behavior. We find positive short-run employment and earnings impacts five months after the program finalized; no impacts are found for shorter periods. These short-run impacts are economically very large, compared to those typically found in the literature: a 33.3 per cent increase in the probability of being employed, and a 23.6 per cent increase in earnings. We find no evidence of significant program impacts on other outcomes, including personality-related traits, providing evidence that these traits may not be malleable for young adults in the short-run. We argue that the estimated labor market impacts are due to a combination of both skills formation and signaling of higher quality workers to employers.

Keywords: randomized controlled trial; youths; labor market training; life skills (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J24 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2014-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-lab, nep-lam, nep-ltv and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

Published - published in: Labour Economics, 2017, 45, 131 - 142

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Related works:
Journal Article: Can arts-based interventions enhance labor market outcomes among youth? Evidence from a randomized trial in Rio de Janeiro (2017)
Working Paper: Can Arts-Based Interventions Enhance Labor Market Outcomes among Youth? Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Rio de Janeiro (2014)
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