Tag
human_capital
19 findings
DevelopmentAnticipatory Human Capital and Child Nutrition InvestmentSchool enrollment for girls aged 6–17 increased by 5.0 percentage points (p < 0.01), closing about 60% of the baseline boy-girl schooling gap, while BMI-for-age z-score increased by 0.24 standard deviations (p < 0.01) for girls aged 5–15.RCTLabour & employmentSubstitutability of Soft Skills Training for Baseline Skill DeficitsProductivity gains were significantly higher for workers with low baseline leadership skills (-4.3 percentage point differential for high baseline leaders, p < 0.05) and those without education above primary school (-7.59 percentage point differential for higher education, p < 0.10), proving adult soft skills training acts as a substitute for baseline skill stocks.RCTLabour & employmentCross-Gender Asymmetry in Human Capital and Labor Market EffectsTreatment had zero statistically significant impact on men's BPO employment (0.003, p > 0.10), total paid employment (-0.006, p > 0.10), enrollment in school/training (0.003, p > 0.10), or likelihood of marriage (-0.006, p > 0.10).RCTLabour & employmentEducated Youth Underemployment TrapDespite completing secondary school (13 average education years), urban young men worked an average of only 23.4 hours per week conditional on being employed, while earning approximately $210 per 3-month period prior to intervention.Observational StudyLabour & employmentEducational Heterogeneity in Information FrictionsHigh-school educated jobseekers doubled their permanent employment rate from 5.8% to 11.6% (ITT = +5.76 percentage points, p < 0.05) and increased formal employment by 45% (+4.82 percentage points, p < 0.10), driven by an 8.7% reduction in reservation wages (p < 0.10); post-secondary jobseekers showed no statistically significant change in permanent employment (-2.6 percentage points, p > 0.10) or reservation wages (-3.5%, p > 0.10).RCTEducationFaculty Credentialing-Curricular DecouplingPrivate vocational schools employed a higher proportion of teachers with only secondary school training and fewer teachers with advanced degrees compared to public schools, yet voucher recipients attending these private schools achieved 0.33 to 0.66 standard deviation higher scores on national examinations.Observational StudyFirms & operationsFamily-Occupied Executive Layers and Managerial Skill DisincentivesExecutive layers across developing-country firms are overwhelmingly reserved for owner family members, directly reducing middle managers' motivation to cultivate leadership capabilities and reducing owners' incentives to train outside staff.Observational StudyLabour & employmentFirm-Specific Training Non-TransferabilityTraining was strictly firm- and project-specific (questionnaire terminology for a single health survey), and scores were never disclosed to outside employers. Yet participants achieved an 80% daily wage increase ($3.83/day), ruling out general human capital or skill signaling as the primary driver.RCTLabour & employmentOn-the-Job Soft Skills Training for Line WorkersTrained workers demonstrated higher teamwork skills, a 4.7 percentage point (3.5%) increase in promotion probability, and a 16 percentage point (63%) increase in requests for further skill training. Production output rose by 7.4 percentage points (13.5%), yielding a net return on investment of 256% for the firm eight months post-training.RCTDevelopmentHuman Capital Moderation of Risk HedgingAmong literate household heads, insurance provision increased the likelihood of investing in risky cash crops by 15 percentage points (p < 0.05), whereas among illiterate household heads, the treatment effect was indistinguishable from zero.RCTLabour & employmentLabor Market Disconnection Heterogeneity in Human Capital ResponseSeverely disconnected jobseekers in the control group exhibited negative baseline human capital investment index scores (-11.84), but cash transfers generated a statistically significant positive effect of +14.30 points (p < 0.05; p < 0.01 for equality test across groups), driven primarily by gains in self-assessed employment prospects. Conversely, less disconnected jobseekers showed a slight negative response (-5.61 points).RCTBehaviour & psychologyLocus of Control Effort AllocationJobseekers with an internal locus of control demonstrated higher baseline human capital investment index scores (+5.16 vs -5.00) and lower search effort index scores (-4.35 vs +4.42) compared to those with an external locus of control. Cash transfers generated significant net income gains for external locus youth (€22.86 increase, p < 0.01), whereas internal locus youth actively adjusted income sources resulting in no significant net income change (€7.69, p > 0.10).RCTLabour & employmentMulti-Component Training BundlingStandalone skills training yielded no significant long-term impact on skills or employment; however, participants receiving hard-skills training bundled with an incentivized savings scheme experienced the largest positive impacts on job likelihood and total savings.RCTLabour & employmentMultinational Firm Transferability DeficitResumes listing foreign job experience at multinational firms received a callback rate of 6.8%, compared to 7.1% for resumes listing local foreign company names, showing no statistically significant benefit from brand recognition (p > 0.10).RCTEducationNon-Academic Human Capital AccumulationProviding vouchers for non-academic vocational tracks increased the likelihood of taking the national exit exam by 5 to 6 percentage points (a 25% relative increase) and boosted exam scores by 0.33 to 0.66 standard deviations, mitigating human capital deficits for non-college-bound students.RCTEconomics (general)One-on-One Peer MentoringFemale microentrepreneurs in Kenya paired with mentors increased short-term profits by 20%, but these profit gains completely vanished after one year when mentor stipends ended; two additional mentorship studies in Kenya and Ethiopia showed no long-term impact on firm performance.RCTEducationDecoupling Child Human Capital Investments from Parental Educational DeficitsSchool enrollment increases for young girls in treatment villages (5.0 percentage points overall, p < 0.01) were equally pronounced in households where parents had zero formal education, proving demand-side labor market returns offset parental educational deficits.RCTLabour & employmentPrivate Vocational Training Investment Response to Market DemandWomen aged 18–24 in treatment villages were 2.8 percentage points more likely to enroll in vocational training (p < 0.01) relative to a control mean of 0.5%, whereas men showed no significant change (0.3 percentage points, p > 0.10).RCTLabour & employmentTransferable Industry-Recognized CredentialsSectoral programs substantially increased industry-recognized credential attainment; earnings gains were driven by placement in higher-paying credentialed jobs rather than total hours worked, yielding hourly wage increases of nearly $4/hour (a 31.7% increase, p < 0.01) in YearUp and a 14 percentage point increase in jobs paying over $11/hour (59% vs. 45%, p < 0.01) in SEIS.RCT