TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Berg, Gerard J. van den
AU  - Bergemann, Annette
AU  - Caliendo, Marco
        TI  - The Effect of Active Labor Market Programs on Not-Yet Treated Unemployed Individuals
        PY  - 2008/Nov/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 3825
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/index.php/publications/dp3825
        AB  - Labor market programs may affect unemployed individuals' behavior before they enroll. Such ex ante effects are hard to identify without model assumptions. We develop a novel method that relates self-reported perceived treatment rates and job-search behavioral outcomes, like the reservation wage, to each other, among newly unemployed workers. Job search theory is used to derive theoretical predictions. To deal with effect heterogeneity and selectivity, the effects of interest are estimated by propensity score matching. We apply the method to the German ALMP system, using a novel data set including self-reported assessments of the variables of interest as well as an unusually detailed amount of information on behavior, attitudes, and past outcomes. We find that the system generates a negative ex ante effect on the reservation wage and a positive effect on search effort.
        KW  - policy evaluation
KW  - identification
KW  - program evaluation
KW  - active labor market policy
KW  - unemployment duration
KW  - expectations
KW  - search effort
KW  - reservation wage
        ER  -