Stepping Stone or Exit Path: Experimental Evidence on Training the Long-Term Unemployed

Jacob Arendt () and Iben Bolvig ()
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Jacob Arendt: Rockwool Foundation Research Unit
Iben Bolvig: The Danish Center for Social Science Research

No 18618, IZA Discussion Papers from IZA Network @ LISER

Abstract: This study estimates the effects of an employment programme for disadvantaged unemployed individuals. The programme emphasized on-the-job training and contracting the unemployed for a few paid work hours as a stepping stone into the labour market. Evaluated through a randomised controlled trial, the programme was found to accelerate transitions into part-time work. Contrary to its intention, it permanently increased the share of participants receiving disability pensions among the most disadvantaged groups. To explain this finding, we suggest that training, while enhancing productivity for some, simultaneously provided information of employability used in the assessment of disability pension eligibility.

Keywords: unemployed; active labour market policy; disability pension; immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 J14 J15 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp
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