Abstract

This article analyzes the impact and effectiveness of the Mexican labor retraining program for unemployed and displaced workers—Programa de Becas de Capacitación para Trabajadores (PROBECAT). The strategy followed is to compare the post-training labor market experiences of trainees with those of a comparison group—a matched sample of unemployed individuals who were eligible for, but did not participate in, PROBECAT. The results of this exercise suggest that participation in PROBECAT reduced the mean duration of unemployment for both men and women trainees and increased the monthly earnings of men, but not of women. The results also indicate that the post-training earnings effect varied systematically by level of education attained, with the largest earnings increases (of about 28 to 37 percent) found for men with six to twelve years of education.

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