Post-secondary vocational training courses: are they effective for Italian unemployed youth with a high school diploma?

The Italian Ministry of Labour and Social Policies won an EU bid within which FBK-IRVAPP together with ASVAPP and ISFOL has been in charge to produce a rigorous evaluation on the effects of training courses for young unemployed (holding at least an high school diploma) on their subsequent occupational chances.  The evaluation project focus on programs supported by the European Social Fund (ESF) in five Italian regions/provinces (Piemonte, Lazio, Puglia, Veneto and Province of Trento).

The impact of the training programs is estimated – using the propensity score matching – comparing the occupational outcomes of youths taking part into the courses to those of comparable youths not enrolled in the programs. The comparability of the two pools of youths is established looking at a wide range of their observable characteristics including gender, age, education and in particular their previous occupational histories which the existing literature suggests to be crucial to properly account for selection bias. FBK-IRVAPP has been appointed to conduct analysis both in Veneto – in collaboration with Veneto Lavoro – and in the Province of Trento – in partnership with Trento’s Labour Agency. The results emerging from the analyses show a positive effect of the program both in Veneto and in Trentino respectively from the eighth and the tenth month from the beginning of the courses. The positive effect remains in the following months, the maximum observable is respectively 36 and 27 months. The project has been carried out upon the agreement <Ammortizzatori> signed with the statistical office of the Province of Trento (ISPAT) within the Memorandum of understanding for the Realization of Statistical Analyses.