Effectiveness of the Public Work Program in Slovenia

This paper evaluates the direct effects of the Slovenian public work program on the youth. The effectiveness of the program is measured by re-employment probability. A Heckman correction of selection is applied to estimate the average program effects. The Heckman selection estimator is an extensively used method to control for selection on unobserved variables. It relies on the assumption that a specific distribution of the unobservable characteristics jointly influences participation and outcome. The results of the empirical study indicate that the public work program has a positive effect on employment in the short run. In the long run, however, the results are not so obvious.