Does Outsourcing Job Assistance Hel p Long-term Unemployed Job Seekers Find and Keep Jobs?
Abstract:
Findin g jobs for long-term unemployed job seekers is a challenge. We study whethe r a private nonprofit provider of placement services (called Hestia) perfor ms better than the standard public scheme in the context of a randomized ex periment. Our data allow us to track labor market participation and benefit receipt two years prior to five years after assignment to treatment. We fi nd that the Hestia manages to find jobs for its clients earlier, improving the employment rate by 4 percentage points, and reducing benefit receipt by the corresponding fraction in the first year. Yet, the initial employment gain dissipates completely, and becomes even negative and significant two y ears after assignment. Job seekers assigned to Hestia earn substantially le ss on the job than the Control group. These patterns are consistent with th e private provider responding strongly to the financial incentive scheme in place, despite its status as a non-profit organization.
DTSTAMP:20260404T190603Z DTSTART:20151126T173000Z DTEND:20151126T190000Z SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR