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General

Study Overview

Title:

Impact evaluation of the Skills Development for Employability Project in the Republic of Congo

Study is 3ie funded:

No

Study ID:

RIDIE-STUDY-ID-580a7c2b9a8d3

Initial Registration Date:

10/21/2016

Last Update Date:

11/22/2021

Study Status:

Ongoing

Location(s):

Congo - Kinshasa

Abstract:

The Skills Development for Employability Project has been launched by the Government of the Republic of Congo to address the challenge of youth unemployment in urban areas. This experiment is designed to evaluate the impact of a component of the project that offers young men and women the opportunity to enroll in six-month long vocational training courses, followed by an eighteen-month ‘support to transition’ period during which beneficiaries are provided regular assistance. One of the objectives of the projects is to encourage young women to apply for courses in non-traditional, male-dominated trades, where their earnings potential would be higher. To gain further insights into the determinants of young men and women’s occupational choices, in addition to measuring the effect of the training program, we test an intervention providing interested young women and men information on the actual earnings in different trades before they make the decision of which course to apply to.

Registration Citation:

Rouanet, L. and Gassier, M., 2016. Impact evaluation of the Skills Development for Employability Project in the Republic of Congo. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie096

Change History for Registration Citation

Changed On	Previous Value
11/18/2021	Rouanet, L. and Gssier, M., 2016. Impact evaluation of the Skills Development for Employability Project in the Republic of Congo. Registry for International Development for Impact Evaluations (RIDIE). Available at: 10.23846/ridie096

Categories:

Education

Additional Keywords:

Secondary ID Number(s):

Principal Investigator(s)

Name of First PI:

Léa Rouanet

Change History for Name of First PI

Changed On	Previous Value
03/26/2019	Shubha Chakravarty

Affiliation:

World Bank

Name of Second PI:

Marine Gassier

Change History for Name of Second PI

Changed On	Previous Value
03/26/2019	Léa Rouanet

Affiliation:

World Bank

Study Sponsor

Name:

World Bank Group’s Umbrella Facility for Gender Equality

Study Sponsor Location:

United States

Intervention

Intervention Overview

Intervention:

The beneficiaries of this intervention are vulnerable young women and men aged 17 to 30 who will have left school at least a year prior to the launch of the program, and who have completed at least primary school but have not graduated from high school. Young women and men who meet the selection criteria are invited to information sessions. Half of them (randomly selected) attend basic information sessions during which different trades for which training courses are available are presented. The second half are invited to enhanced information sessions that also cover the average earnings associated with different trades. All those who have attended an information session are given the opportunity to submit an application for training in a specific trade. After applications have been received, applicants are randomly selected. Those who win the lottery are offered admission into a six month full-time training in a specific trade. This training is free of charge. At the end of the technical training and during the following 18 months, participants benefit from regular support from the training providers: continued job search assistance, help to launch own small-scale business.

Theory of Change:

The experiment presented here tests the effect of providing information on trade-specific earnings among applicants to a vocational training program launched by the government of the Republic of Congo. By focusing on this population, we can observe men’s and women’s choices of trade as they are making it. This provides a rare opportunity to isolate some of the determinants of this choice, which sets our experiments apart from studies examining selection into specific trades by sampling individuals already engaged in that trade (World Bank Group, 2019).

Providing information on trade-specific earnings could affect male and female applicants’ choice of trade through two distinct mechanisms. First, it can correct applicants’ inaccurate assumptions on trade-specific earnings. Second, it could induce them to give more consideration to potential earnings when they select a trade. This second, behavioral effect, stems in part from the timing of the information intervention, which is delivered just before applicants make their choice, and could therefore become a more salient driver of their choice. These two mechanisms are not mutually exclusive. Being able to check their assumptions regarding earnings in different trades may engage individuals in slow deliberative (type 2) thinking and reduce their propensity to rely on intuitive (type 1) process (Kahneman 2011; Barone et al. 2019). This information may also reduce applicants’ uncertainty regarding earnings in different trades. This may in turn lead them to give greater consideration to this dimension as they make this choice (Baker et al. 2018).

Multiple Treatment Arms Evaluated?

Yes

Implementing Agency

Name of Organization:

World Bank

Type of Organization:

Foreign or Multilateral Aid Agency

Program Funder

Name of Organization:

World Bank

Type of Organization:

Foreign or Multilateral Aid Agency

Intervention Timing

Intervention or Program Started at time of Registration?

Yes

Start Date:

10/01/2015

End Date:

Evaluation Method

Evaluation Method Overview

Primary (or First) Evaluation Method:

Randomized control trial

Other (not Listed) Method:

Additional Evaluation Method (If Any):

Other (specify)

Other (not Listed) Method:

Qualitative data collection

Method Details

Details of Evaluation Approach:

The experiment relies on a randomized control trial design in which participants are assigned to one of four groups: 1. Treatment group T1: Eligible applicants are offered a training program in the trade of their choice without receiving additional information on earnings by trade. 2. Treatment group T2: Eligible applicants receive additional information on earnings by trade but are not offered the training. 3. Treatment group T3: Eligible applicants are offered training in the trade of their choice and receive additional information on earnings by trade. 4. Control group C: Eligible applicants are not offered the training and do not receive the additional information . By comparing the outcomes (earnings, labor market participation) of C to (T1+T3), we will be able to identify the effect of the training on these outcomes. By comparing the choice of trainings of (C+T1) to the trainings’ choices of (T2+T4), we will be able to identify the impact of additional information on trainings on trainings’ choices. Last, by comparing the outcomes of T1 to the outcomes of T3 we will be able to identify the additional impact of receiving additional information on labor market outcomes.

Outcomes (Endpoints):

Individual outcomes: employment status and earnings of the young women and men, non-cognitive skills (including self-efficacy) and access to networks, empowerment, monitoring of the risk of harassment through specific modules. Household outcomes: households’ consumption and assets, changes in the activities of other household members (potentially due to spillover effects or the launch of a household enterprise).

Unit of Analysis:

Individuals

Hypotheses:

Receiving access to the training without having received information on sector-specific earnings increases economic opportunities

Receiving information on sector-specific earnings without receiving access to the training increases economic opportunities

Receiving both the information on trade-specific earnings and the training compared to only the training increases economic opportunities

Unit of Intervention or Assignment:

Individuals

Number of Clusters in Sample:

NA

Number of Individuals in Sample:

4400

Change History for Number of Individuals in Sample

Changed On	Previous Value
11/18/2021	3000

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

C: 2600 T: 1800

Change History for Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples

Changed On	Previous Value
11/18/2021	C: 1000. T1: 500, T2: 1000, T3: 500.

Supplementary Files

Analysis Plan:

PDCE_info_PAP_Mar2019_submitted.pdf

Change History for Analysis Plan

Changed On	Previous Value
03/26/2019	PDCE_info_PAP_Mar2019_submitted.pdf

Other Documents:

Pre-analysis plan for an Impact Evaluation of the Skills Development for Employability Project in Republic of Congo: PDCE_Pre-analysis plan - effect of training - submitted Nov 21.pdf

Data

Outcomes Data

Description:

Individual survey at baseline, midline (12 months after baseline) and endline (24 months after baseline).

Data Already Collected?

No

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Treatment Assignment Data

Participation or Assignment Information:

Yes

Description:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Previously Used?

Data Access:

Data Obtained by the Study Researchers?

Data Approval Process:

Approval Status:

Data Analysis

Data Analysis Status:

Study Materials

Upload Study Materials:

Registration Category

Registration Category:

Prospective, Category 1: Data for measuring impacts have not been collected

Completion

Completion Overview

Intervention Completion Date:

Data Collection Completion Date:

Unit of Analysis:

Clusters in Final Sample:

Total Observations in Final Sample:

Size of Treatment, Control, or Comparison Subsamples:

Findings

Preliminary Report:

Preliminary Report URL:

Summary of Findings:

Paper:

Paper Summary:

Paper Citation:

Data Availability

Data Availability (Primary Data):

Date of Data Availability:

Data URL or Contact:

Access procedure:

Other Materials

Survey:

Survey Instrument Links or Contact:

Program Files:

Program Files Links or Contact:

External Link:

External Link Description:

Description of Changes:

Study Stopped

Date:

Reason: