Impacts of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Jobs on Youth: 5-Year Experimental Evidence on Factory Job Offers and Cash Grants in Ethiopia

35 Pages Posted: 2 May 2019

See all articles by Christopher Blattman

Christopher Blattman

University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Stefan Dercon

University of Oxford - Department of Economics

Simon Franklin

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)

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Date Written: April 2019

Abstract

We study two interventions for underemployed youth across five Ethiopian sites: a $300 grant to spur self-employment, and a job offer to an industrial firm. Despite significant impacts on occupational choice, income, and health in the first year, after five years we see nearly complete convergence across all groups and outcomes. Shortrun increases in productivity and earnings from the grant dissipate as recipients exit their micro-enterprises. Adverse effects of factory work on health found after one year also appear to be temporary. These results suggest that one-time and one-dimensional interventions may struggle to overcome barriers to wage- or self- employment.

Keywords: industrial jobs, entrepreneurship, labor, development, self-employment, productivity, micro-enterprise

Suggested Citation

Blattman, Christopher and Dercon, Stefan and Franklin, Simon, Impacts of Industrial and Entrepreneurial Jobs on Youth: 5-Year Experimental Evidence on Factory Job Offers and Cash Grants in Ethiopia (April 2019). University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2019-65, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3380592 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3380592

Christopher Blattman (Contact Author)

University of Chicago, Harris School of Public Policy ( email )

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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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Stefan Dercon

University of Oxford - Department of Economics ( email )

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Simon Franklin

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

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London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

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