Education-Driven Apprentice Self-Selection
RCTReview
Traditional informal apprenticeships in developing economies primarily absorb youth with little or no education. Introducing formal subsidies and structured dual training alters applicant self-selection, attracting older and more educated youth with better outside labor market options.
Picture this
Adding a monthly living stipend and a recognized classroom diploma to hands-on vocational training is like adding a full scholarship and college credit to a trade apprenticeship. This combination convinces high school graduates—who would normally hold out for office jobs—to apply for manual trade training alongside less-educated applicants.
What the evidence says
Formal apprentices were 47.5 percentage points less likely to have no education (p < 0.0001), 34.8 percentage points more likely to have completed primary education (p < 0.0001), 2.10 years older on average (p < 0.0001), and 23.0 percentage points more likely to aspire to formal wage employment (p < 0.0001) compared to traditional apprentices in control firms.
- Who was studied
- N = 1,842 eligible youth applicants and 948 surveyed apprentices across 7 urban localities in Côte d'Ivoire.
- How
- Instrumental variable and OLS regression comparing baseline characteristics and follow-up profiles of formal apprentices against traditional apprentices in control firms.
What to do
Account for self-selection shifts toward higher-educated participants when evaluating subsidized dual training programs to isolate human capital gains from baseline worker quality.
From the source
"Compared to traditional apprentices in control firms, formal apprentices are 48 percentage points less likely to have no education, 35 percentage points more likely to have completed primary school, and 13 percentage points more likely to have completed lower secondary school."
Direct_and_Indirect_Effects_of_Subsidized_Dual_Apprenticeships.pdf