The validity of the matching estimator in programme evaluation depends on the completeness of the set of variables used for matching. When an attitudinal variable is relevant for the participation decision, but is either unmeasured or measured only after entry to the programme, estimates of...

Administrative data from the UK’s main welfare-to-work programme for unemployed and disadvantaged youth is analysed to identify differences in practice between local delivery areas, and to assess their effects on off-welfare outcomes. The findings reveal important similarities in the nature of...

The review reported here was commissioned in 2000 by the National Audit Office as part of its evaluation of the New Deal for Young People (NDYP). Its purpose was to compare the economic impact of NDYP with those of labour market programmes elsewhere, to the extent that robust and comparable...