The effect of increased employer contacts within a labour market training program

Using both register and survey data, two types of labour market training programs are compared. One program is part of the regular Swedish labour market training and the other, Swit, was initiated as an experiment during a two-year period, in an attempt to solve a bottleneck problem with people working with information technology. Enrolling in Swit increases the chances of finding employment by 20 percent, as compared to entering the conventional program, directed towards IT. The difference is due to the positive effect of more practical experience within Swit, which is especially large for individuals with a weak position on the labour market.

Keywords: Evaluation; Information technology; Employment rate; Propensity score matching.
JEL: C14, J68