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INVESTING IN OUR SHARED FUTURE THE 8 TH CONFERENCE ON THE EVALUATION OF EU COHESION POLICY MAIN FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The occupational effect of training programs resulted as positive both in the short (6 months) as well as in the medium (12 months) term. After 12 months from the training completion, employment rate is 57,2 p.p. in the treated group and 43,1 p.p. in the control group. The estimated effect of the program is therefore 14,1 p.p. We consider: • The type of skills that are taught through the training courses. We refer to courses with a high degree of specialization or a low degree of specialization. The impact of vocational courses is higher for specialized training than basic training, suggesting the importance of the level of skills provided. • An analysis by age of individuals showing that the impact of the training, although positive, is stronger for the younger age groups. • The duration of unemployment that beneficiaries experienced before being involved in the program. The effect of the training is higher for people who come from a relatively shorter period of unemployment. • The length of the courses, by dividing them into three categories: shorter length courses (up to 500 hours), medium length courses (600-720 hours) and longer length courses (800 hours and more). We estimate a higher effect (around 8-10 percentage points) for the longer duration training courses. The differential effect only partially reduces in the medium-long run, highlighting the importance of consolidation of competences that can result from longer processes of learning and transfer of skills. PROBLEM SETTING, RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY The study estimates employment effects of public vocational training courses completed by unemployed in Piedmont (Italy) in 2015. Using propensity score matching techniques we have found a positive causal effect: one year after the end of the courses the employment rate is about 14 percentage points higher in the treated group compared to the control group. Estimated effects are more effective for specialized competencies training courses, young people, short-term unemployed, longer training courses. FUND(S) COVERED • European Social Fund (ESF) • Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) PROGRAMMING PERIOD • 2014-2020 PROGRAMME(S) COVERED • OP ESF Piemonte 2014-2020 THEMATIC OBJECTIVE(S) • T008: Employment • T009: Social inclusion • TO10: Education TYPE OF EVALUATION • Impact YEAR OF COMPLETION • 2018 AUTHOR(S) OF THE EVALUATION CONTACT PERSON Luisa Donato, Maria Cristina Migliore, Samuele Poy Alessandro Sciullo [email protected] Employment effects of vocational training: an evaluation using propensity score matching • Regione Piemonte 0.60 0.40 0.20 0.00 -18 -12 -6 months before/aſter beginning of trainning Employment rate 0 6 12 18 24 Control group Treated group The positive effect of training courses on employment in Piedmont Note: nearest neighbour matching.
