The Effect of Active Labor Market Programs on Not-Yet Treated Unemployed Individuals

Gerard van den Berg, Annette Bergemann and Marco Caliendo

No 3825, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Labor market programs may affect unemployed individuals' behavior before they enroll. Such ex ante effects are hard to identify without model assumptions. We develop a novel method that relates self-reported perceived treatment rates and job-search behavioral outcomes, like the reservation wage, to each other, among newly unemployed workers. Job search theory is used to derive theoretical predictions. To deal with effect heterogeneity and selectivity, the effects of interest are estimated by propensity score matching. We apply the method to the German ALMP system, using a novel data set including self-reported assessments of the variables of interest as well as an unusually detailed amount of information on behavior, attitudes, and past outcomes. We find that the system generates a negative ex ante effect on the reservation wage and a positive effect on search effort.

Keywords: policy evaluation; identification; program evaluation; active labor market policy; unemployment duration; expectations; search effort; reservation wage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 D83 D84 J64 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 22 pages
Date: 2008-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Journal of the European Economic Association, 2009, 7(2-3), 606-616

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Effect of Active Labor Market Programs on Not-Yet Treated Unemployed Individuals (2009)
Working Paper: The effect of active labor market programs on not-yet treated unemployed individuals (2008)
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