Signaling worker quality in a developing country: Lessons from a certification program

M. Antonella Mancino, Leonardo Morales and Diego F. Salazar

No 69, CLEF Working Paper Series from Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo

Abstract: We evaluate the returns to signaling occupation-specific skills using unique administrative data from a nationwide certification program in Colombia. The program certifies skills and issues three certificates: basic, intermediate, and advanced. We use regression discontinuity methods to compare workers' earnings around certificateassignment thresholds. Signaling advanced occupation-specific skills yields significant returns: 9.7%, on average, within two years of certification. Instead, we find no effects from signaling basic or intermediate occupation-specific skills. Our analysis reveals that the primary mechanism behind the observed income effects associated with the advanced certificate is the ability to signal occupation-specific skills to potential employers.

JEL-codes: J01 J31 J44 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-inv and nep-lma
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Related works:
Working Paper: Signaling Worker Quality in a Developing Country: Lessons from a Certification Program (2023)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:clefwp:294853

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