The Effect of Work First Job Placements on the Distribution of Earnings: An Instrumental Variable Quantile Regression Approach
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w17972.pdf
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Author(s)
Houseman, Susan N.
Autor, David H
Kerr, Sari
Date Issued
October 2016
Journal
Journal of Labor Economics
Publisher
University of Chicago Press
Citation
Autor, David H. et al. “The Effect of Work First Job Placements on the Distribution of Earnings: An Instrumental Variable Quantile Regression Approach.” Journal of Labor Economics 35, 1 (January 2017): 149–190 © 2016 University of Chicago Press
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
Government employment programs for low-skilled workers typically emphasize rapid placement of participants into jobs, of which many are temporary-help jobs. Using data from Detroit’s welfare to-work program and the Chernozhukov-Hansen instrumental variables quantile regression method, we find that neither direct-hire nor temporary-help job placements significantly affect the lower tail of the earnings distribution. In the upper tail, direct-hire placements yield sizable earnings increases for over half of participants, while temporary help placements yield significant earnings losses at higher quantiles. Our results cast doubt on the efficacy of employment programs’ exclusive focus on rapid job placement and their widespread reliance on temporary-help placements.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics
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Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1086/687522
