Do Administrative and Survey Data Tell the Same Impact Story? Evidence from the Health Profession Opportunity Grants 1.0 Impact Study

Abstract

Job training evaluations face a choice: whether to use survey data, administrative data, or both to estimate impacts. Using data from the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG 1.0) Impact Study, we investigate whether employment and earnings levels and impacts of gaining access to occupational training differ by source: survey data, National Directory of New Hires data, and state Unemployment Insurance data. Impacts of HPOG 1.0 on employment do not differ, but earnings impacts differ between the data sources. Administrative data analysis finds positive earnings impacts, whereas survey data analysis detects none. These findings differ from related research, which tends to report that earnings impacts estimated from survey data are larger than those estimated from administrative data.