December 2006

IZA DP No. 2533: Beautiful Serbia

revised version published as 'Beautiful Serbia’ - objective and subjective outcomes of active labour market policy in a transition economy" in: Economics of Transition, 2014, 22(1), 43-67

The paper studies the causal impact of participation in an active labor market program – the ‘Beautiful Serbia’ program providing training and temporary work in the construction sector in Serbia and Montenegro – on measures of subjective well-being approximating individual welfare. According to our estimates, the positive impact of this particular program appears much stronger judged by subjective well-being than judged by the immediate labor market effect.