What Training for the Unemployed? An Impact Evaluation for Targeting Training Courses

This paper uses data on training activities financed by the European Social Fund and carried out in Tuscany (Italy) to conduct an impact evaluation of courses with particular attention to the heterogeneous effects by type of activity and type of user. In particular, the evaluation is carried out for four different types of users, identified on the basis of a profiling score which summarizes each jobseeker’s distance from the labour market. The aim is to identify for every profiling group if the attendance of different types of training courses improves the chances of re-employment. Results show that training has an impact on the employment prospects of jobseekers; however, the effect is heterogeneous between types of courses and unemployed. Thus, our work highlights the importance of profiling the unemployed in order to address each subject to the training course with the highest employment impact according to his/her characteristics.