Comparing econometric methods to empirically evaluate activation programs for job seekers

Abstract

Summary We test whether different identification strategies give similar results when evaluating activation programs. Budgetary problems at the Dutch unemployment insurance (UI) administration in March 2010 caused a sharp drop in the availability of these programs. Using administrative data provided by the UI administration, we evaluate the effect of the program (1) exploiting the policy discontinuity as a quasi‐experiment, (2) using dynamic matching assuming conditional independence, and (3) applying the timing‐of‐events model. All three strategies use the same data to consider the same program in the same setting, and show that the program reduces job finding directly after enrollment. However, the magnitude of the estimated drop in job finding differs between the three estimation methods. In the longer run, all three methods show a zero effect on employment.

Dynamic evaluation of job search assistance

“…The program thus aims at developing general job application skills, which are maybe different from the skills necessary to find a teaching job at a A recent literature shows that externally provided job search assistance programs more often have adverse effects on the labor market prospects of participants. Muller et al (2020) find a negative effect on job finding for an externally provided program in the Netherlands. Krug and Stephan (2016), Behaghel et al (2014), andCottier et al (2015) find similar results for other countries.…”