They Got Mad Skills : The Effects of Training on Youth Employability and Resilience to the Ebola Shock
This paper discusses a randomized control trial to measure the short-term impacts of a skills intervention among urban youth in Sierra Leone at the onset of the Ebola crisis. The intervention provided (i) technical skills training, plus on-the-job...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/700321493126707105/They-got-mad-skills-the-effects-of-training-on-youth-employability-and-resilience-to-the-Ebola-shock http://hdl.handle.net/10986/26473 |
| Summary: | This paper discusses a randomized
control trial to measure the short-term impacts of a skills
intervention among urban youth in Sierra Leone at the onset
of the Ebola crisis. The intervention provided (i) technical
skills training, plus on-the-job training; (ii) business
skills training; and (iii) a mix of (i) and (ii). All groups
received stipends and literacy and numeracy training. The
findings support evidence that combining cash injections and
skills training can stimulate employment and
entrepreneurship. The program boosted household consumption
and investments in housing and assets, thereby building
resilience to the Ebola shock. The effects on cognitive and
noncognitive skills were positive and heterogeneous. Youth
with greater initial ability experienced more positive labor
market and entrepreneurship investment impacts. Youth with
less initial ability upgraded skills more extensively,
although they channeled benefits into more consumption.
These findings emphasize the role of basic safety nets and
show that noncognitive tests may improve the targeting of
skills interventions in fragile contexts. The results also
confirm the age-malleability of noncognitive ability and
suggest that, in low-ability contexts, the sensitive years
for skill investments may reach into early adulthood. |
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