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Measuring Program Impacts On Earnings and Employment

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  • Robert Kornfeld
  • Howard S. Bloom

Abstract

This paper attempts to determine whether wage records reported quarterly by employers to state Unemployment Insurance (UI) agencies provide a valid alternative to more costly retrospective sample surveys of individuals as the basis for measuring the labor market impacts of employment and training programs for low-income persons. This question is important because of the widespread and growing use of UI wage records for this purpose. We base our analysis on UI data and survey data for a sample of 12,318 low-income adults and out-of-school youths from 12 U.S. cities that were sites in the National Job-Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Study. The National JTPA Study was a Congressionally-mandated randomized experiment designed to measure the labor market impacts of JTPA programs for low-income persons. Our comparison of UI data and survey data indicates that for adult men, adult women, female youths, and all but a small subgroup of male youths, impact estimates based on UI data were comparable to those obtained from survey data, even though average earnings according to the survey data were somewhat higher than they were according to UI wage records. We therefore conclude that UI wage records can provide a valid alternative to surveys for measuring program impacts on many, but not all, groups of low-income persons.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Kornfeld & Howard S. Bloom, 1997. "Measuring Program Impacts On Earnings and Employment," JCPR Working Papers 11, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:jopovw:11
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruce D. Meyer, 1995. "Lessons from the U.S. Unemployment Insurance Experiments," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 91-131, March.
    2. Michael J. Puma & Nancy R. Burstein, 1994. "The national evaluation of the food stamp employment and training program," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 311-330.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Rachel Gordon, 2002. "Is a Family-focused Program More Effective in Helping Low-Income Parents Enter the Workforce? Insights from a Multimethod Evaluation of the Jobs for Youth/Full Family Partnership Demonstration," JCPR Working Papers 271, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    2. Christopher Jepsen & Kenneth Troske & Paul Coomes, 2014. "The Labor-Market Returns to Community College Degrees, Diplomas, and Certificates," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(1), pages 95-121.
    3. Andrew Dyke & Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske & Kyung-Seong Jeon, 2006. "The Effects of Welfare-to-Work Program Activities on Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 567-608, July.
    4. Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske, 2005. "Welfare to Temporary Work: Implications for Labor Market Outcomes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(1), pages 154-173, February.

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