Does Federally-Funded Job Training Work? Nonexperimental Estimates of WIA Training Impacts Using Longitudinal Data on Workers and Firms

References

1. 1. Abowd, John and
   2. Francis Kramarz

   . 1999. “Econometric Analysis of Linked Employer-Employee Data.” Labour Economics 6: 53–74.

   OpenUrl
2. 1. Abowd, John and
   2. Francis Kramarz

   . 2002. “The Analysis of Labor Markets Using Matched Employer-Employee Data.” In Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3B, eds. Orley Ashenfelter and David Card. Amsterdam: North Holland. 2629–2710.

   OpenUrl
3. 1. Abowd, John,
   2. Francis Kramarz, and
   3. David Margolis

   . 1999. “High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms,” Econometrica 67(2): 251–333.

   OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
4. 1. Abowd, John,
   2. Paul Lengermann and
   3. Kevin McKinney

   . 2002. “The Measurement of Human Capital in the U.S. Economy.” LEHD Technical Paper TP-2002-09, US Bureau of the Census.
5. 1. Abowd, John,
   2. Bryce Stephens,
   3. Lars Vilhuber,
   4. Fredrik Andersson,
   5. Kevin McKinney,
   6. Marc Roemer, and
   7. Simon Woodcock

   . 2009. “The LEHD infrastructure files and the creation of the Quarterly Workforce Indicators.” In Producer Dynamics: New Evidence from Micro Data, eds. Timothy Dunne, J. Bradford Jensen, and Mark Roberts. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 149–230.
6. 1. Almandsmith, Sherry,
   2. Lorena Adams and
   3. Hans Bos

   . 2006. Evaluation of the Strengthening the Connections Between Unemployment Insurance and the One-Stop Delivery Systems Demonstration Project in Wisconsin: Final Report. Oakland: Berkeley Policy Associates.
7. 1. Andersson, Fredrik,
   2. Harry Holzer and
   3. Julia Lane

   . 2005. Moving Up or Moving On: Who Advances in the Low-Wage Labor Market? New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
8. 1. Ashenfelter, Orley

   . 1978. “Estimating the Effect of Training Programs on Earnings.” Review of Economics and Statistics 60(1): 47–57.

   OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
9. 1. Auerbach, Alan and
   2. James Hines

   . 2002. “Taxation and Economic Efficiency.” In Alan Auerbach and Martin Feldstein eds. Handbook of Public Fiance, Volume 3. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 1347–1421.

   OpenUrl
10. 1. Barnow, Burt

    . 2011. “Lessons from WIA Performance Measures.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 209–232.
11. 1. Barnow, Burt and
    2. Christopher King

    . 2005. The Workforce Investment Act in Eight States. Report Prepared for U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
12. 1. Barnow, Burt and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2004. “Performance Management of U.S. Job Training Programs.” In Job Trainining Policy in the United States, eds. Christopher O’Leary, Robert Straits and Stephen Wandner. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 21–56.
13. 1. Barnow, Burt and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2016. “Employment and Training Programs.” In Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States II, ed. Robert Moffitt. University of Chicago Press for NBER. Forthcoming.
14. 1. Barron, John,
    2. Mark Berger and
    3. Dan Black

    . 1997. On-the-Job Training. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute.
15. 1. Baum, Sandy;
    2. Harry Holzer and
    3. Grace Luetmer

    . 2020. Should the Federal Government Fund Short-Term Postsecondary Certificate Programs? Washington DC: Urban Institute.
16. 1. Bergemann, Annette and
    2. Gerard van den Berg

    . 2008. “Active Labor Market Policy Effects for Women in Europe – A Survey.” Annals of Economics and Statistics 91/92: 384–408.

    OpenUrl
17. 1. Besharov, Douglas and
    2. Phoebe Cottingham eds

    . 2011. The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute.
18. 1. Biewen, Martin,
    2. Bernd Fitzenberger,
    3. Adironke Osikominu, and
    4. Marie Paul

    . 2014. The Effectivess of Public-Sponsored Training Revisited: The Importance of Data and Methodological Choices.” Journal of Labor Economics 32(4): 837–897.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
19. 1. Black, Dan,
    2. Kermit Daniel and
    3. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2005. “College Quality and Wages in the United States.” German Economic Review 6(3): 415–443.

    OpenUrl
20. 1. Blank, Diane,
    2. Laura Heald and
    3. Cynthia Fagnoni

    . 2011. “An Overview of WIA.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 49–80.
21. 1. Bloom, Howard,
    2. Larry Orr,
    3. Stephen Bell,
    4. George Cave,
    5. Fred Doolittle,
    6. Winston Lin and
    7. Johannes Bos

    . 1997. “The Benefits and Costs of JTPA Title II-A Programs: Finidngs from the National Job Training Partnership Act Study.” Journal of Human Resources 32: 549–576.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
22. 1. Brown Charles,
    2. James Hamilton and
    3. James Medoff

    . 1990. Employers Large and Small. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press.
23. 1. Cahuc, Pierre and
    2. Thomas Le Barbanchon

    . 2010. “Labor Market Policy Evaluation in Equilibrium: Some Lessons of the Job Search and Matching Model.” Labour Economics 17(1): 196–205.

    OpenUrl
24. 1. Caliendo, Marco,
    2. Robert Mahlstedt and
    3. Oscar Mitnik

    . 2017. “Unobservable, but Unimportant? The Relevance of Usually Unobserved Variables for the Evaluation of Labor Market Policies.” Labour Economics 46: 14–25.

    OpenUrl
25. 1. Calónico, Sebastian, and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2017. “The Women of the National Supported Work Demonstration.” Journal of Labor Economics 35(S1): S65–S97.

    OpenUrl
26. 1. Card, David,
    2. Jochen Kluve and
    3. Andrea Weber

    . 2010. “Active Labour Market Policy Evaluations: A Meta-Analysis.” Economic Journal 120(548): F452–F477.

    OpenUrl
27. 1. Card, David,
    2. Jochen Kluve, and
    3. Andrea Weber

    . 2018. “What Works? A Meta-Analysis of Recent Active Labor Market Program Evaluations.” Journal of the European Economic Association 16(3): 894–931.

    OpenUrl
28. 1. Chabé-Ferret, Sylvain

    . 2015. “Analysis of the Bias of Matching and Difference-in-Difference Under Alternative Earnings and Selection Processes.” Journal of Econometrics 185: 110–123.

    OpenUrl
29. 1. Courty, Pascal and
    2. Gerald Marschke

    . 2004. “An Empirical Investigation of Dysfunctional Responses to Explicit Performance Incentives.” Journal of Labor Economics 22(1): 23–56.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
30. 1. Dahlby, Bev

    . 2008. The Marginal Cost of Public Funds. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
31. 1. D’Amico, Ronald,
    2. Kate Dunham,
    3. Jennifer Henderson-Frakes,
    4. Deborah Kogan,
    5. Vinz Koller,
    6. Melissa Mack,
    7. Micheline Magnotta,
    8. Jeffrey Salzman,
    9. Andrew Wiegand,
    10. Gardner Carrick, and
    11. Dan Weissbein

    . 2004. The Workforce Investment Act after Five Years: Results from the National Evaluation of the Implementation of WIA. Oakland, California: Social Policy Research Associates
32. 1. D’Amico, Ronald,
    2. Kate Dunham,
    3. Annelies Goger,
    4. Charles Lea,
    5. Nicole Rigg,
    6. Sheryl Ude and
    7. Andrew Wiegand

    . 2009. Findings from a Study of One-Stop Self-Services: A Case Study Approach. Oakland: Social Policy Research Associates.
33. 1. Decker, Paul

    . 2011. “Ten Years of WIA Research.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 315–346.
34. 1. Dehejia, Rajeev and
    2. Sadek Wahba

    . 1999. “Causal Effects in Nonexperimental Studies: Reevaluating the Evaluations of Training Programs.” Journal of the American Statistical Association, 94(448): 1053–1062.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
35. 1. Dehejia, Rajeev and
    2. Sadek Wahba

    . 2002. “Propensity Score Matching Methods for Noexperimental Causal Studies.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 84(1): 151–161.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
36. 1. Dolton, Peter and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2011. “The Impact of the UK New Deal for Lone Parents on Benefit Receipt.” IZA Discussion Paper No. 5491.
37. 1. Fortson, Kenneth,
    2. Dana Rotz,
    3. Paul Burkander,
    4. Annalisa Mastri,
    5. Peter Schochet,
    6. Linda Rosenberg,
    7. Sheena McConnell, and
    8. Ronald D’Amico

    . 2017. Providing Public Workforce Services to Job Seekers: 30-month Impact Findings on the WIA Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs. Princeton, NJ: Mathematica Policy Research.
38. 1. Friedlander, Daniel,
    2. David Greenberg and
    3. Philip Robins

    . 1997. “Evaluating Government Training Programs for the Economically Disadvantaged.” Journal of Economic Literature 35(4): 1809–1855.

    OpenUrlWeb of Science
39. 1. Friedlander, Daniel and
    2. Philip Robins

    . 2005. “Evaluating Program Evaluations: New Evidence on Commonly Used Experimental Methods.” American Economic Review 85(4): 923–937.

    OpenUrl
40. 1. Greenberg, David,
    2. Charles Michalopoulos, and
    3. Philip Robins

    . 2003. “A Meta-Analysis of Government-Sponsored Training Programs.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 57(1): 3153.

    OpenUrl
41. 1. Greenberg, David,
    2. Charles Michalopoulos, and
    3. Philip Robins

    . 2004. “What Happens to the Effects of Government-Funded Training Programs Over Time?” Journal of Human Resources 39(1): 277–293.

    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text
42. 1. Greenberg, David,
    2. Charles Michalopoulos and
    3. Philip Robins

    . 2006. “Do Experimental and Nonexperimental Evaluations Given Different Answers About the Effectiveness of Government-Funding Training Programs?” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 25(3): 523–552.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
43. 1. Heckman, James,
    2. Carolyn Heinrich,
    3. Pascal Courty,
    4. Gerald Marschke and
    5. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2011. The Performance of Performance Standards. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
44. 1. Heckman, James,
    2. Hidehiko Ichimura and
    3. Petra Todd

    . 1997. “Matching as an Econometric Evaluation Estimator: Evidence from Evaluating a Job Training Programme.” Review of Economic Studies 64(4): 605–654.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
45. 1. Heckman, James,
    2. Hidehiko Ichimura,
    3. Jeffrey Smith, and
    4. Petra Todd

    . 1998. “Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data,” Econometrica 66(5): 1017–1098.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
46. 1. Heckman, James and
    2. Salvador Navarro-Lozano

    . 2004. “Using Matching, Instrumental Variables and Control Functions to Estimate Economic Choice Models.” Review of Economics and Statistics 86(1): 30–57.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
47. 1. Heckman, James,
    2. Robert LaLonde, and
    3. Jeffrey Smith

    . 1999. “The Economics and Econometrics of Active Labor Market Programs” in Handbook of Labor Economics, Volume 3A, eds. Orley Ashenfelter and David Card. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 1865–2097.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
48. 1. Heckman, James, and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 1995. “Assessing the Case for Social Experiments,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2): 85–110.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
49. 1. Heckman, James, and
    2. Jeffrey Smith

    . 1999. “The Pre-Program Earnings Dip and the Determinants of Participation in a Social Program: Implications for Simple Program Evaluation Strategies,” Economic Journal 109(457): 313–348.

    OpenUrl
50. 1. Heinberg, John,
    2. John Trutko,
    3. Burt Barnow,
    4. Mary Farrell, and
    5. Asaph Glosser

    . 2005. Unit Costs of Intensive and Training Services for WIA Adults and Dislocated Workers: An Exploratory Study of Methodologies and Estimates in Selected States and Localities: Final Report. Washington, DC: Capitol Research Corporation.
51. 1. Heinrich, Carolyn,
    2. Peter Mueser,
    3. Kenneth Troske,
    4. Kyung-Seong Jeon and
    5. Daver Kahvecioglu

    . 2011. “A Nonexperimental Evaluation of WIA Programs.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 371–406.
52. 1. Heinrich, Carolyn, and
    2. Peter Mueser

    . 2014. “Training Program Impacts and the Onset of the Great Recession.” Unpublished manuscript, Vanderbilt University.
53. 1. Heinrich, Carolyn,
    2. Peter Mueser,
    3. Kenneth Troske,
    4. Kyung-Seong Jeon, and
    5. Daver Kahvecioglu

    . 2013. “Do Public Employment and Training Programs Work?” IZA Journal of Labor Economics 2:6.
54. 1. Heinrich, Carolyn and
    2. Christopher King

    . 2010. “How Effective are Workforce Development Programs?” Presented at the 40th Anniversary Conference of the Ray Marshall Center, University of Texas, Austin TX, October.
55. 1. Hollenbeck, Kevin

    . 2009. “Return on Investment Analysis of a Selected Set of Workforce System Programs in Indiana.” Report submitted to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Indianapolis, Indiana. http://research.upjohn.org/reports/15.
56. 1. Hollenbeck, Kevin

    . 2012. “Return on Investment in Workforce Development Programs.” Upjohn Institute Working Paper 12-188. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. http://research.upjohn.org/up_workingpapers/188.
57. 1. Holzer, Harry

    . 2009. “Workforce Development Policy as an Antipoverty Tool: What Do We Know? What Can We Do?” In Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger eds. Changing Poverty, Changing Policy. New York: Russell Sage Foundation. 301–329.
58. 1. Holzer, Harry,
    2. Julia Lane and
    3. Lars Vilhuber

    . 2004. “Escaping Poverty for Low-Wage Workers: The Role of Employer Characteristics and Changes.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 57(4): 560–578.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
59. 1. Holzer, Harry,
    2. Julia Lane,
    3. David Rosenblum and
    4. Fredrik Andersson

    . 2011. Where Are All the Good Jobs Going? What National and Local Job Quality and Dynamics Mean for U.S. Workers. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
60. 1. Imbens, Guido, and
    2. Jeffrey Wooldridge

    . 2009. “Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation.” Journal of Economic Literature 47(1): 5–86.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
61. 1. Jacobson, Lou,
    2. Robert Lalonde and
    3. Daniel Sullivan

    . 2005. “The Impact of Community College Retraining on Older Displaced Workers: Should We Teach Old Dogs New Tricks?” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 58(3):398–415.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
62. 1. Katz, Lawrence;
    2. Jonathan Roth,
    3. Richard Hendra, and
    4. Kelsey Schaberg

    . 2020. “Why Do Sectoral Employment Programs Work? Evidence from WorkAdvance.” NBER Working Paper 28248.
63. 1. King, Christopher

    . 2004. “The Effectiveness of Publicly Financed Training in the United States.” In Job Training Policy in the United States, eds. Christopher O’Leary, Robert Straits and Stephen Wandner. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 57–100.
64. 1. King, Christopher and
    2. Burt Barnow

    . 2011. “The Use of Market Mechanisms.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo, MI: Upjohn Institute. 81–112.
65. 1. Lalonde, Robert

    . 1995. “The Promise of Public-Sector Training.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2): 149–168.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
66. 1. Lalonde, Robert

    . 1986. “Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data.” American Economic Review 76(4): 604–620.

    OpenUrlWeb of Science
67. 1. Lechner, Michael

    . 2010. “The Estimation of Causal Effects by Difference-in-Difference Methods” Foundations and Trends in Econometrics 4(3): 165–224.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
68. 1. Lechner, Michael and
    2. Conny Wunsch

    . 2009. “Are Training Programs More Effective When Unemployment is High?” Journal of Labor Economics 27(4): 653–692.

    OpenUrlCrossRef
69. 1. Lechner, Michael and
    2. Conny Wunsch

    . 2013. “Sensitivity of Matching-Based Program Evaluations to the Availability of Control Variables.” Labour Economics 21:111–121.

    OpenUrl
70. 1. Leung, Pauline and
    2. Zhuan Pei

    . 2020. “Further Education During Unemployment.” Princeton University Industrial Relations Section Working Paper #642.
71. 1. Lise, Jeremy,
    2. Shannon Seitz and
    3. Jeffrey Smith

    . 2004. “Equilibrium Policy Experiments and the Evaluation of Social Programs.” NBER Working Paper No. 10283.
72. 1. Mastri, Annalisa, and
    2. AnnaMaria McCutcheon

    . 2015. Costs of Services Provided by the WIA Adult and Dislocated Worker Programs. Issue Brief. Oakland, CA: Mathematica Policy Research and Social Policy Research Associates.
73. 1. McCall, Brian,
    2. Jeffrey Smith and
    3. Conny Wunsch

    . 2016. “Government-Sponsored Vocational Training for Adults.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, Volume 5, eds. Eric Hanushek, Stephen Machin, and Ludger Woessman. Amsterdam: North-Holland. 479–652.

    OpenUrl
74. 1. Morris, Pamela and
    2. Charles Michalopoulos

    . 2003. “Findings from the Self-Sufficiency Project: Effects on Children and Adolescents of a Program That Increased Employment and Earnings.” Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 24(2): 201–239.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
75. 1. Oster, Emily

    . 2019. “Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence,” Journal of Business & Economic Statistics 37(2): 187–204.

    OpenUrl
76. 1. Perez-Johnson, Irma,
    2. Quinn Moore, and
    3. Robert Santilano

    . 2011. Improving the Effectiveness of Individual Training Accounts: Long-term Findings from an Experimental Evaluation of Three Service Delivery Models: Final Report. Princeton, New Jersey: Mathematica Policy Research.
77. 1. Roder, Anne and
    2. Mark Elliott

    . 2019. Nine-Year Gains: Project Quest’s Continuing Impact. New York: Economic Mobility Corporation.
78. 1. Rosenbaum, Paul and
    2. Donald Rubin

    . 1983. “The Central Role of the Propensity Score in Observational Studies for Causal Effects.” Biometrika 70(1): 41–55.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
79. 1. Rosenbaum, Paul

    . 2001. “Stability in the Absence of Treatment.” Journal of the American Statistical Association 96: 210–219.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
80. 1. Rothstein, Jesse and
    2. Till von Wachter

    . 2017. “Social Experiments in Labor Economics.” In Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, eds., Handbook of Field Experiments, Volume 2. Elsevier. 555–637.

    OpenUrl
81. 1. Schochet, Peter,
    2. John Burghardt, and
    3. Sheena McConnell

    . 2006. National Job Corps Study and Longer-Term Follow-Up Study: Impact and Benefit-Cost Findings Using Survey and Summary Earnings Records Data, Final Report. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research.
82. 1. Schochet, Peter,
    2. John Burghardt, and
    3. Sheena McConnell

    . 2008. “Does Job Corps Work? Impact Findings from the National Job Corps Study.” American Economic Review 98(5): 1864–86.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
83. 1. Smith, Jeffrey

    . 2011. “Improving Impact Evaluation in Europe.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. 473–494.
84. 1. Smith, Jeffrey and
    2. Petra Todd

    . 2005. “Does Matching Overcome LaLonde’s Critique of Nonexperimental Methods?” Journal of Econometrics 125(1-2): 305–353.

    OpenUrlCrossRefWeb of Science
85. 1. Stevens, David

    . 2007. “Employment That Is Not Covered by State Unemployment Insurance Laws.” U.S. Census Bureau (Washington, DC) LEHD Technical Paper No. TP-2007-04.
86. U.S. Office of Management and Budget. 1992. Guidelines and Discount Rates for Benefit-Cost Analysis of Federal Programs. Circular No. A-94 Revised. https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_a094/
87. 1. Van Horn, Carl and
    2. Aaron Fichtner

    . 2011. “Eligible Training Provider Lists and Consumer Report Cards.” In The Workforce Investment Act: Implementation Experiences and Evaluation Findings, eds. Douglas Besharov and Phoebe Cottingham. Kalamazoo MI: Upjohn Institute. 153–176.