Search results

The study reported here estimates the employment effect of government sponsored vocational training programs for the unemployed in urban Russia and contributes to the scarce literature on the labour policies in transition economies by investigating the employment effect of active labour market programs in the Russian Federation. The study found that participants in blue-collar training had a discernible immediate positive effect, while the participants of white-collar programs did not. These results must be viewed with caution; the positive effect of blue-collar training may be explained by the larger number of blue-collar vacancies in the labour market. The variation in program effects across different types of training stresses the importance of monitoring the efficient program mix and providing appropriate infrastructure for various types of skill enhancing programs for unemployed individuals.