Presenter (online in MS Teams): Analia Schlosser (Tel Aviv University, IZA, and CEPR) 

Paper title: Fostering Soft Skills in Active Labor Market Programs: Evidence from a large-scale RCT 
Analia Schlosser joint work with Yannay Shanan (Bar Ilan University) 

Abstract:

We evaluate the effectiveness of an Active Labor Market Program that focuses on enhancing soft skills of welfare recipients using a large-scale RCT. The program increased participants’ employment rates and decreased income support recipiency. The effects persist five to six years after its implementation, even during the Covid-19 crisis. The analysis of the mechanisms shows positive effects on participants’ soft skills, mainly among those with no recent employment spell, who gradually joined the labor market after participation in the program. In contrast, individuals with a recent employment spell went back to employment soon after their allocation to the program.  

The public research seminars of the Department of Economics and Finance (DEF) at Tallinn University of Technology  usually take place on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month in online format, unless announced otherwise. The seminar will last one hour, presentation will last approximately 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of discussion. The seminars are held in English. The DEF seminar series is organised in collaboration with the project ’’Individual Behaviour and Economic  Performance: Methodological  Challenges and Institutional Context’’ (IBEP), which has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 952574. Questions about the seminar can be sent to the IBEP seminar coordinator Kadri Männasoo, kadri.mannasoo@taltech.ee .