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Informing employees in small and medium sized firms about training: results of a randomized field experiment

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  • Van den Berg, Gerard
  • Dauth, Christine
  • Homrighausen, Pia
  • Stephan, Gesine

Abstract

We mailed brochures to 10,000 randomly chosen employed German workers eligible for a subsizided occupational training program called WeGebAU, informing them about the importance of skill-upgrading occupational training in general and about WeGebAU in particular. Using survey and register data, we estimate effects of the information treatment brochure on awareness of the program, on take-up of WeGebAU and other training, and on subsequent employment. The brochure more than doubles awareness of the program. There are no effects on WeGebAU take-up but participation in other (unsubsidized) training increases among employees aged below 45. Short-term labor market outcomes are not affected.

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  • Van den Berg, Gerard & Dauth, Christine & Homrighausen, Pia & Stephan, Gesine, 2020. "Informing employees in small and medium sized firms about training: results of a randomized field experiment," CEPR Discussion Papers 15035, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15035
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    Cited by:

    1. Teresa Backhaus, 2022. "Training in Late Careers - A Structural Approach," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2022_382, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    2. Cairo, Sofie & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2023. "The disparate effects of information provision: A field experiment on the work incentives of social welfare," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    3. 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.
    4. Brunello, Giorgio & Wruuck, Patricia, 2020. "Employer provided training in Europe: Determinants and obstacles," EIB Working Papers 2020/03, European Investment Bank (EIB).
    5. Wolff, Richard & Struck, Olaf & Osiander, Christopher & Senghaas, Monika & Stephan, Gesine, 2022. "Justice perceptions of occupational training subsidies: findings from a factorial survey," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 56, pages 1-6.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Employment; Wages; Skills; Randomized controlled trial; Information treatment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J65 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment Insurance; Severance Pay; Plant Closings

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