RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Skills and Liquidity Barriers to Youth Employment
JF Journal of Human Resources
JO J Hum Resour
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 0922-12548R1
DO 10.3368/jhr.0922-12548R1
A1 McIntosh, Craig
A1 Zeitlin, Andrew
YR 2025
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/early/2025/09/02/jhr.0922-12548R1.abstract
AB We present results of an experiment benchmarking a workforce training program against cash transfers for underemployed young adults in Rwanda. 3.5 years after treatment, the training program enhances productive time use and asset investment, while the cash transfers drive productive assets, livestock values, savings, and subjective well-being. Both interventions have powerful effects on entrepreneurship. But while labor, sales, and profits all go up, the implied wage rate in these businesses is low. Our results suggest that credit is a major barrier to self-employment, but deeper reforms may be required to enable entrepreneurship to provide a transformative pathway out of poverty.