The impact of an adult education voucher program: Evidence from a randomized field experiment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Schwerdt, Guido; Messer, Dolores; Woessmann, Ludger; Wolter, Stefan C.
• 署名单位: IZA Institute Labor Economics; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; University of Munich; University of Bern; University of Bern
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2012.03.001
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 569-583
• 关键词: field experiment; voucher; Adult education; LATE; Switzerland

摘要

lifelong learning is often promoted in aging societies, but little is known about its returns or governments' ability to advance it. This paper evaluates the effects of a large-scale randomized field experiment issuing vouchers for adult education in Switzerland. We find no significant average effects of the voucher program on earnings, employment, and subsequent education 1 year after treatment. But effects are heterogeneous: low-educated individuals are most likely to profit from adult education, but least likely to use the voucher. In addition, the public voucher program appears to crowd out firm-financed training. The findings cast doubt on the effectiveness of untargeted voucher programs in promoting labor market outcomes through adult education. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.