Studies examining the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs present findings that are mixed and sometimes at odds, in part due to research design, data, and methodological limitations of the studies. We aim to substantially improve on past approaches to estimate program effectiveness by...

Recent welfare reforms are prompting some state and local welfare agencies to use temporary help service firms to help place welfare recipients into jobs. Concerns have arisen that these jobs are more likely to pay low wages, provide fewer benefits, and offer less stability. We explore the...

Temporary Help Services (THS) employment has been growing in size, particularly among disadvantaged workers. An extended policy debate focuses on the low earnings, limited benefits, and insecurity that such jobs appear to provide. We investigate the earnings and wage differentials observed...

The Programa Nacional de Becas Estudiantiles is a conditional cash transfer program designed to promote long-term human capital accumulation among Argentine youth and to reduce poverty. This study follows a 1999 cohort of students from 24 schools for five years. Propensity score matching methods...

Social investment funds, a widely used tool of development efforts, aim to support and strengthen local capacity for effective implementation of social and economic infrastructure projects through participatory, community-driven approaches. This working paper investigates whether these...

The primary objectives of the program are to support the retention, promotion and graduation of students in the EGB, thus increasing educational attainment and promoting human capital development among Argentine youth.