Publication: Contemporaneous and Post-Program Impacts of a Public Works Program: Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire
Date
2017-05-23
ISSN
Published
2017-05-23
Author(s)
Abstract
Public works are one of the most popular
safety net and employment policy instruments in
thedeveloping world, despite limited evidence on their
effectiveness and optimal design features.This paper
presents results on contemporaneous and post-program impacts
from a public worksintervention in Côte d'Ivoire. The
program provided 7 months of temporary employment inroad
maintenance to urban youths. Participants self-selected to
apply for the public works jobs,which paid the formal
minimum wage and were randomized among applicants.
Randomizedsub-sets of beneficiaries also received
complementary training on basic entrepreneurship or
jobsearch skills. During the program, results show limited
contemporaneous impacts of publicworks on the level of
employment, but a shift in the composition of employment
towards thebetter-paid public works wage jobs. A year after
the end of the program, there are no lastingimpacts on the
level or composition of employment, although positive
impacts are observed onearnings through higher productivity
in non-agricultural self-employment. Large heterogeneityin
impacts are found, particularly during the program. Results
from machine learningtechniques suggest potential trade-offs
between maximizing contemporaneous and postprogramimpacts.
Traditional heterogeneity analysis shows that a range of
practical targetingmechanisms perform as well as the machine
learning benchmark, leading to strongercontemporaneous and
post-program benefits without sharp trade-offs. Overall,
departing fromself-targeting based on the formal minimum
wage would lead to strong improvements inprogram cost-effectiveness.
Citation
“Bertrand, Marianne; Crépon, Bruno; Marguerie, Alicia; Premand, Patrick. 2017. Contemporaneous and Post-Program Impacts of a Public Works Program; Contemporaneous and Post-Program Impacts of a Public Works Program : Evidence from Côte d'Ivoire. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/28460 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”