Learning and Earning: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India

This project estimates the short-and-medium-run effects of participating in a subsidised vocational training programme aimed at improving labour market outcomes of women residing in low-income households in a developing country. It combines pre-intervention data with two rounds of post-intervention data from a field experiment to quantify the short-and-medium-run effects of the programme. In the short-run, it finds that programme participants are significantly more likely to be employed, work additional hours, and earn more. These short-run impact estimates are all sustained in the medium run. The project also identifies credit constraints, local access, and lack of proper child care support as important barriers to programme participation and completion. It also rules out two alternative mechanisms – signaling and change in behaviour that can drive these findings.

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