Money Matters: Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomized Field Experiment with Vouchers for Adult Training

Dolores Messer () and Stefan Wolter
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Dolores Messer: University of Bern

No 4017, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a randomized experiment analyzing the use of vouchers for adult training. In 2006, 2,400 people were issued with a training voucher which they were entitled to use in payment for a training course of their choice. User behavior was compared with a control group of 14,000 people. People in the treatment and in the control group were not aware at any time that they were part of an experiment. The experiment shows that the voucher had a significant causal impact on participation in training modules. Nevertheless, the increase was partially offset by a deadweight loss in excess of fifty percent.

Keywords: field experiment; voucher; adult education; training; Switzerland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C93 I22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 35 pages
Date: 2009-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp and nep-hrm
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Working Paper: Money Matters - Evidence from a Large-Scale Randomized Field Experiment with Vouchers for Adult Training (2009)
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