Creating employment or keeping them busy: an evaluation of training programs for older workers in Germany

Abstract

"We analyze the effect of participation in short-term training measures on older German recipients of means-tested unemployment benefits. Our analysis uses administrative data of the German Federal Employment Agency and we estimate the effects of participating in two types of short-term training - classroom and in-firm training - on different outcomes of the participants. Our results show that classroom training is not effective in making participants independent of benefit receipt. It has a moderately positive effect on employment outcomes, which are highest for West German men. In contrast, in-firm training significantly raises the participants' likelihood of finding regular jobs and of being independent of unemployment benefit receipt." (author's abstract)