Die Discussion Papers dienen einer möglichst schnellen Verbreitung von neueren Forschungsarbeiten des ZEW. Die Beiträge liegen in alleiniger Verantwortung der Autoren und stellen nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des ZEW dar.Discussion Papers are intended to make results of ZEW research promptly available to other economists in order to encourage discussion and suggestions for revisions. The authors are solely responsible for the contents which do not necessarily represent the opinion of the ZEW.Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server:ftp://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp0441.pdf Non-technical SummaryAfter German unification, Active Labor Market Policies (ALMP) were implemented at a large scale in East Germany in order to prevent unemployment. These programs mainly consisted of training and temporary employment schemes. In 2002, more than a decade later, the German Federal Employment Service (Bundesanstalt für Arbeit, BA) still spent around e 20 Billion (≈ 0.9% of the GDP) for ALMP. About 50% of this budget goes to East Germany even though the labor force in East Germany is less than one sixth of Germany as a whole. Quite a significant share of the labor force in East Germany has been participating in programs of ALMP since 1990. In light of persistently high unemployment, the effectiveness of ALMP in East Germany is often questioned.Contributing to this debate, we estimate the employment effect of public sector sponsored training programs in East Germany at the individual level for the time period 1990 to 1999. Training programs were intended to provide skills to the individuals that are in demand in a market economy but not in sufficient supply due to the former educational system. Consequently, regarding the number of participants, training was the largest ALMP program in East Germany. Our empirical analysis focusses on the group of individuals who belonged to the active labor force in 1990. This group was hit fully by the transformation shock. We use data from the Labor Market Monitor for the state of Sachsen-Anhalt (Arbeitsmarktmonitor Sachsen-Anhalt LMM-SA).This paper first provides an overview on training programs in East Germany and develops the methodology for estimating treatment effects of training programs based on a dynamic employment model. Then, the evaluation of the program involves estimating separately the effects on the outcome variables transitions between employment and nonemployment depending on the employment status in the previous month. When evaluating the average effect of labor market policy for the treated individuals, it is important to estimate the counterfactual average nontreatment outcome for the treated individuals based on similar nontreated individuals in order to avoid a possible bias induced by the selection into the programs. We implement nonparametric kernel matching based on the estimated propensity score for treatment. This way, we intend to control for selection bias based on observed characteristics. In a second step, we take before-after differences in o...

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Auch mit seiner neuen Reihe "IAB-Discussion Paper" will das Forschungsinstitut der Bundesagentur für Arbeit den Dialog mit der externen Wissenschaft intensivieren. Durch die rasche Verbreitung von Forschungsergebnissen über das Internet soll noch vor Drucklegung Kritik angeregt und Qualität gesichert werden.Also with its new series "IAB Discussion Paper" the research institute of the German Federal Employment Agency wants to intensify dialogue with external science. By the rapid spreading of research results via Internet still before printing criticism shall be stimulated and quality shall be ensured. Abstract: Based on unique administrative data, which has only recently become available, this paper estimates the employment effects of the most important type of public sector sponsored training in Germany, namely the provision of specific professional skills and techniques (SPST). Using the inflows into unemployment for the year 1993, the empirical analysis uses local linear matching based on the estimated propensity score to estimate the average treatment effect on the treated of SPST programs starting during 1 to 6, 7 to 12, and 13 to 24 months of unemployment.The empirical results show a negative lock-in effect for the period right after the beginning of the program and significantly positive treatment effects on employment rates of about 10 percentage points and above a year after the beginning of the program. The general pattern of the estimated treatment effects is quite similar for the three time intervals of elapsed unemployment considered. The positive effects tend to persist almost completely until the end of our evaluation period. The positive effects are stronger in West Germany compared to East Germany.

Using American panel data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988, this article investigates the effect of working during grade 12 on attainment. We employ, for the first time in the related literature, a semiparametric propensity score matching approach combined with difference‐in‐differences. We address selection on both observables and unobservables associated with part‐time work decisions, without the need for instrumental variable. Once such factors are controlled for, little to no effects on reading and math scores are found. Overall, our results therefore suggest a negligible academic cost from part‐time working by the end of high school.