Screening through activation: differential effects of a youth activation programme

Caroline Hall, Kaisa Kotakorpi, Linus Liljeberg () and Jukka Pirttilä
Additional contact information
Kaisa Kotakorpi: University of Turku, CESifo, Postal: Finland
Linus Liljeberg: IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, Postal: Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy, P O Box 513, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

No 2016:15, Working Paper Series from IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy

Abstract: We study the anatomy of responses to a major activation programme targeted at unemployed youth, introduced in Sweden in 2007. We use a regression discontinuity design to analyse individual reactions to the programme. We find that individuals who have a relatively high predicted probability of finding a job respond to the threat of activation, whereas there is no significant effect for individuals in a weaker labour market position. This is consistent with activation programmes working as a screening device between those who are able to find work on their own vs. those who are not. In addition to examining traditional predictors of poor labour market outcomes (e.g. education and school dropout status), we find a strong concentration of health problems among individuals with poor labour market prospects. We use register data covering the entire Swedish population, including very detailed information on health.

Keywords: activation; unemployment; health; school drop-outs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J64 J68 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 62 pages
Date: 2016-09-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Screening through Activation? Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Program (2022)
Working Paper: Screening through Activation? Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Program (2020)
Working Paper: Screening through Activation: Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Programme (2017)
Working Paper: Screening through Activation? Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Programme (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2016_015

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