Labor Market Transitions in Peru

Traditional labor market analysis based solely on the net unemployment rate fails to explain the apparent paradox between a relatively moderate unemployment rate in Peru (around 10%, with a weak sensibility to wide macroeconomic fluctuations), and the fact that unemployment is one of the major issues in Peru. One possible explanation is that this static indicator of cross section net unemployment balance is compatible with high flows in and out of employment states. To address these issues we needed to conduct a dynamic analysis using panel data. Using the Peruvian national household survey (ENAHO), we constructed a panel of working age individuals at the national level for the period 1997-1999. Like previous work in developing countries, we found that there is an important degree of job mobility in Peru. We also found that most of the transitions occur between employment and inactivity instead of between employment and unemployment. We also showed that the rate of permanent unemployment is very low so that unemployment would be essentially a frictional phenomenon. Further, considering the different transition states, we elaborated an unconditional transition profile, including individual and household characteristics, like gender, age and education levels for example, associated with each transition status. Finally, after examining these labor market transitions and the possible sample selection bias, we estimated a multinomial logit model. This model allowed us to appreciate the (conditional) incidence of individual and household characteristics as well as the effects of different shocks on the labor transition states.

Impact Evaluation of the Job Youth Training Program Projoven

This paper brings new evidence on the impact of The Peruvian Job Youth Training Program (Projoven). Compared with prior evaluations of the program, this one has several advantages. This is the first experimental impact evaluation of Projoven, and also the first to measure impacts over a longer period: almost three years after training. Additionally, the evaluation supplements data from a follow-up survey with administrative data from the country’s Electronic Payroll (Planilla Electrónica), allowing for a more accurate measure of formal employment. It also measures whether socioemotional skills of beneficiaries improved with program participation. The evaluation finds a high long term positive impact of Projoven on formal employment. It also finds certain heterogeneity of program impacts across subpopulations. Impacts on formal employment vary depending on the beneficiaries’ gender and age, with different patterns of statistical significance depending on the data source used to measure employment formality. Finally, it does not find significant impacts on socio-emotional skills

Experimental Evidence on the Long Term Impacts of a Youth Training Program

This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial on the long-term impacts of a youth training program. The empirical analysis estimates labor market impacts six years after the training - including long-term labor market trajectories of young people - and, it is one of the first experimental long-term evaluation of a youth training program outside the US. We are able to track a representative sample of more than 3,200 youths at the six-year follow-up. Our empirical findings document significant impacts on the formality of employment, particularly for men, and impacts for both men and women in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The long-term analysis shows that these impacts are sustained and growing over time. There are no impacts on average employment, which is consistent with the low unemployment in countries with high informality and no unemployment insurance. Looking at the local labor market context, the analysis suggests that skills training programs work particularly well in more dynamic local contexts, where there is actual demand for the skills provided

Experimental evidence on the long term impacts of a youth training program

This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial on the long-term impacts of a youth training program. The empirical analysis estimates labor market impacts six years after the training - including long-term labor market trajectories of young people - and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first experimental long-term evaluation of a youth training program outside the US. We are able to track a representative sample of more than 3,200 youths at the six-year follow-up. Our empirical findings document significant impacts on the formality of employment, particularly for men, and impacts for both men and women in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The long-term analysis shows that these impacts are sustained and growing over time. There are no impacts on average employment, which is consistent with the low unemployment in countries with high informality and no unemployment insurance. Looking at the local labor market context, the analysis suggests that skills training programs work particularly well in more dynamic local contexts, where there is actual demand for the skills provided.Dieses Papier untersucht die langfristigen Arbeitsmarkteffekte einer Bildungsmaßnahme für benachteiligte Jugendliche und junge Erwachsene in der Dominikanischen Republik. Die empirische Analyse basiert auf einer randomisierten Zuordnung von teilnahmeberechtigten Personen in eine Teilnahme- und Kontrollgruppe, und ist unseres Wissens nach die erste experimentelle Langzeitstudie einer solchen Maßnahme außerhalb der USA. Die Stichprobe enthält Daten zu mehr als 3200 Personen sechs Jahre nach der Zuweisung in Teilnahme- und Kontrollgruppe. Die Ergebnisse zeigen signifikant positive Effekte auf formale Beschäftigung, insbesondere für Männer, sowie auf Arbeitseinkommen für Frauen. Die positiven Wirkungen zeigen sich insbesondere für Personen in der Hauptstadt Santo Domingo, dem dynamischsten lokalen Arbeitsmarkt des Landes, in dem reale Nachfrage für die in der Maßnahme erworbenen Fähigkeiten besteht

Experimental Evidence on the Long-Term Impacts of a Youth Training Program

This paper presents the results of a randomized controlled trial on the long-term impacts of a youth training program. The empirical analysis estimates labor market impacts six years after the training including long-term labor market trajectories of young people and, to the best of our knowledge, is the first experimental long-term evaluation of a youth training program outside the US. We are able to track a representative sample of more than 3,200 youths at the six-year follow-up. Our empirical findings document significant impacts on the formality of employment, particularly for men, and impacts for both men and women in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The long-term analysis shows that these impacts are sustained and growing over time. There are no impacts on average employment, which is consistent with the low unemployment in countries with high informality and no unemployment insurance. Looking at the local labor market context, the analysis suggests that skills training programs work particularly well in more dynamic local contexts, where there is actual demand for the skills provided

Encuesta de habilidades al trabajo (ENHAT) 2017-2018 : causas y consecuencias de la brecha de habilidades en Perú

Existen indicios de que, en el Perú, la brecha de habilidades (entendida como la diferencia entre las habilidades demandadas por los empleadores y aquellas con las que cuentan los trabajadores) es grande. Estos indicios, sin embargo, están basados en mediciones poco fiables, cuyos resultados varían año tras año. Con el objetivo de contar con mejor información sobre esta brecha, entre los años 2017 y 2018, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID) diseño y levantó, junto con el Instituto de Estadística e Informática (INEI) de Perú, la Encuesta de Habilidades al Trabajo (ENHAT), cuyo foco principal es entender la brecha de habilidades, así como sus causas y consecuencias. Esta información resulta clave para poder construir un sistema de identificación de necesidades de habilidades presentes y futuras en el país. Este documento presenta los principales resultados de la ENHAT 2017-2018 en Perú

Impact of COVID-19 on cardiovascular testing in the United States versus the rest of the world

Objectives: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-US institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. Methods: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. Results: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. Conclusions: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection

Review of the Youth Worker Training Sub Program in Colombia (CO0247)

This report constitutes a review of the Youth Worker Training subprogram named "Jóvenes en Acción" which was a component of the Social Safety Net Program (CO0247). This document presents information about the entire program but the emphasis is given to "Jóvenes en Acción". The objective is to provide information about the subprogram: the context under which it was developed, the basic design features (inputs, outputs, outcomes) and the underlying model, the evaluability (at design and during the execution of the program), the execution efficiency and the main results. Although the central purpose of doing an impact evaluation of the effects of training on employability was not possible due to data limitations, this review was informative for the thematic evaluation

Impact Evaluation of the Job Training Component (PROCAJOVEN) of the Assistance Program for the Building of a Training and Employment System in Panama (PN0125)

The purpose of this report is to assess whether the job training program PROCAJOVEN has had positive impacts, i.e. to determine if it has increased the employability of its participants, and to determine whether the program has a positive payoff. The main objective of PROCAJOVEN is to "improve prospects for jobless youths and disadvantaged groups" in Panama. To achieve this goal the program has two modalities. The first modality, called insertion modality, provides short-term training for the low-income unemployed youths 18-29 years old. The second modality, called transition modality, focuses in the transition for the first-time job seekers with complete secondary education. The program has a significant effect on employment rates and labor earnings for women especially for those living in Panama City. Within modalities, the general effects are similar