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Information, financial aid and training participation: Evidence from a randomized field experiment

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  • Görlitz, Katja
  • Tamm, Marcus
Abstract
To increase employee participation in training activities, the German government introduced a large-scale training voucher program in 2008 that reduces training fees by half. Based on a randomized field experiment, this paper analyzes whether providing information about the existence and the conditions of the training voucher had an effect on actual training activities of employees. Because the voucher was newly introduced, only one-fourth of the eligible employees knew the voucher exists at the time of the experiment. The information intervention informed a random sample of eligible employees by telephone about the program details and conditions. The results indicate that the information significantly increased treated individuals' knowledge of the program but had no effect on voucher take-up or participation in training activities. Additional descriptive analyses suggest that the reasons for these zero effects are that the demand for self-financed training is low and that liquidity constraints do not discourage many employees from training participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Görlitz, Katja & Tamm, Marcus, 2016. "Information, financial aid and training participation: Evidence from a randomized field experiment," Ruhr Economic Papers 615, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:615
    DOI: 10.4419/86788712
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    Cited by:

    1. Görlitz Katja & Tamm Marcus, 2017. "Panel Data on Training Activities – Voucher Recipients and Eligible Employees of the Program Bildungsprämie," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 237(4), pages 365-371, August.
    2. Gerard J. van den Berg & Christine Dauth & Pia Homrighausen & Gesine Stephan, 2023. "Informing employees in small and medium‐sized firms about training: Results of a randomized field experiment," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 61(1), pages 162-178, January.
    3. Brunello, Giorgio & Wruuck, Patricia & Maurin, Laurent, 2019. "Skill shortages and skill mismatch in Europe: A review of the literature," EIB Working Papers 2019/05, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    4. Homrighausen, Pia & Lang, Julia, 2019. "Do informational nudges alter firms’ hiring behavior of older workers?," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203481, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Brunello, Giorgio & Wruuck, Patricia, 2019. "Skill Shortages and Skill Mismatch in Europe: A Review of the Literature," IZA Discussion Papers 12346, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Dauth, Christine, 2017. "Regional discontinuities and the effectiveness of further training subsidies for low-skilled employees," IAB-Discussion Paper 201707, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    7. Balmaceda, Felipe, 2021. "A failure of the market for college education and on-the-job human capital," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Homrighausen, Pia & Lang, Julia, 2019. "Do informational nudges alter firms' hiring behavior of older workers?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201923, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    9. Giorgio Brunello & Patricia Wruuck, 2021. "Skill shortages and skill mismatch: A review of the literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1145-1167, September.
    10. Dan A. Black & Lars Skipper & Jeffrey A. Smith & Jeffrey Andrew Smith, 2023. "Firm Training," CESifo Working Paper Series 10268, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    training participation; voucher; financial aid; randomized field experiment; information treatment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I22 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Educational Finance; Financial Aid
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

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