Search our database of 1,200+ summaries of randomized evaluations conducted by our affiliates in 98 countries. To browse key policy recommendations from a subset of these evaluations, visit the Policy Publications tab above.

Displaying 33-40 of 207
Image of black text "letter of recommendation" on white background

Letters of Recommendation for Youth Employment in the United States

Sara Heller
Judd Kessler
Researchers partnered with SYEP employers to create personalized letters of recommendation for SYEP participants to evaluate the impact of recommendation letters on participants’ educational and employment outcomes after the program. Youth who received the letter of recommendation saw a 3 percentage...
An individual getting assistance at an employment office.

Do Public or Private Providers of Employment Services Matter for Employment? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Denmark

Kai Rehwald
Michael Rosholm
Michael Svarer
Though sometimes referred to as “a feature of the welfare state,” some employment and training programs have recently been contracted out to private enterprises. Researchers conducted a randomized evaluation to test the impact of public and private employment service providers on labor market...
Hiring manager reviews a resumé

Do Workers Value Non-traditional Work Arrangements in the United States?

Alexandre Mas
Amanda (Mandy) Pallais
Employees may value alternative work arrangements like flexible scheduling and working from home and dislike schedules that vary from week to week on short notice. However, there is little evidence on how much these alternative work arrangements actually matter to employees. Researchers gave US job...
Young Carpenter in Egypt

The Impact of Stigma on Labor Market Assistance Take-Up in Egypt

Adam Osman
Jamin D. Speer
Researchers studied the impact of acknowledging and refuting stigma on take-up of labor market assistance programs. The results of three randomized evaluations indicated that mentioning stigma, even with the aim of dispelling it, generally reduced take-up of these programs.
Jobseekers study at a job center in South Africa

Providing Information about Job Seekers' Skills to Increase Employment Outcomes in South Africa

Eliana Carranza
Robert Garlick
Kate Orkin
Neil Rankin
In South Africa, researchers partnered with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator to evaluate the impact of providing information about a job seeker’s skills on job seekers’ beliefs, search effort, and employment outcomes. Providing information to job seekers and prospective employers increased...
Man working in factory

Summer Jobs Improve Employment Outcomes for Connected Youth

Jonathan Davis
Sara Heller
Researchers studied the impact of a summer jobs program in Chicago on crime, education, and employment. The program dramatically reduced violent-crime arrests, including in the following school year, though it did not influence schooling or formal employment, and may have increased property crime in...
Bangladeshi garment workers in a factory in Dhaka.

Encouraging the Use of Formal Financial Services of Garment Workers through the Rollout of an Electronic Payment System in Bangladesh

Emily Breza
Martin Kanz
Leora Klapper
Researchers randomly assigned employees at garment factories in Bangladesh to either continue collecting their wages in cash, receive direct deposit wage payments into a payroll account, or receive an account but continued to receive wage payments in cash. Exposure to payroll accounts led to...
Bus station in South Africa

Transport Subsidies and Job Matchmaking in South Africa

Abhijit Banerjee
Sandra Sequeira
In sub-Saharan Africa, youth unemployment is expected to reach 50 percent by 2025. One reason for high unemployment among this group is that youth may live geographically far from where many jobs are located, making traveling to search for employment difficult and expensive. Researchers conducted a...