Post-Program Self-Employment Transition

In Simple Words

Think of a seasonal worker using wages earned during a busy harvest season to buy a pushcart and small inventory of vegetables. Once the harvest ends, the worker no longer needs a boss because the pushcart allows them to run their own daily vegetable-selling business indefinitely.

Research question

Public works programs rarely create permanent wage jobs in formal labor markets, leaving participants at risk of returning to unemployment once projects conclude. Without sustained opportunities, workers require pathways to channel temporary program income into long-term income-generating activities.

Participants

Low-income public works participants in urban and rural areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Study Design

Randomized controlled trial tracking participant employment arrangements and work days over a one-year post-program follow-up period.

Results

Public works program participants worked 16 percent more days in self-employment compared to non-participants, measured more than a year after program completion.

Takeaway

Provide basic micro-enterprise management modules alongside cash-for-work wages to help participants re-invest earnings into self-employed micro-businesses.

Read alongside the research

Plain-English glossary

Original explanations, informed by the references below. Examples are illustrations, not data from the studies above. The research text stays unchanged.

Follow-up

Collecting more information about participants later in a study to see what has happened to them. The term can also mean the length of time researchers keep track of them.

ExampleResearchers interview the same workers three months after a programme ends. That later interview is a follow-up.

GET-IT glossary · Follow-up ↗Read more about follow-up →

Randomized controlled trial

A study that uses chance, like drawing lots, to decide who receives each option being compared. Researchers compare the groups’ outcomes to estimate the effect of those options.

ExampleA lottery assigns volunteers to a training programme or a comparison group. Researchers then compare their outcomes.

GET-IT glossary · Randomized study ↗Read more about randomized controlled trial →

Related findings

• Gender-Differentiated Employment Gains →Labour & employment

  Think of a community gym that only offers heavy weightlifting equipment, which mostly attracts young men. If the gym adds cardio machinery and offers specific time slots for women, a whole new group of people starts exercising, driving up the total overall attendance of the facility.

• General Equilibrium Wage Spillovers →Labour & employment

  Imagine a small town where a single large factory hires almost everyone at low wages because workers have no alternative options. If the government opens a massive construction project next door offering higher pay, the factory owner is forced to raise wages to prevent workers from quitting.

• Heterogeneous Impact Disparity →Labour & employment

  Imagine giving free bus passes to two people: one who already owns a car and one who has no transportation at all. The car owner barely uses the bus pass and sees little change in daily life, while the person without a car uses it every day to get a job, experiencing a massive life improvement.

• Multi-Component Training Bundling →Labour & employment

  Giving someone a textbook on driving does not help them get to work if they cannot afford a bus pass or a car. Combining the driving textbook with a dedicated savings account and matching funds gives the person both the knowledge and the financial resources required to actually purchase transportation and secure a job.