National Research Council
of Italy
CNR-CERIS
Institute for Economic
Research on Firm and Growth Collegio Carlo Alberto - via
Real Collegio, n. 30
10024 Moncalieri (Torino) – ITALY fax : +39 011 68 24
966;
Abstract: Impact evaluation plays a major role in determining the effectiveness of
public policies. In fact, information about the program net effect is a crucial
element in policy planning. Accordingly, as advocated by the Barca Report,
impact evaluation spreading and its use in programming on European Funds is
even more urgent in the current socio-economic context, characterized by scarce
financial resources, which claim for increasing effectiveness and efficiency.
In particular, evaluation is useful for investment programs in human capital
and vocational training policies. The latter, mostly financed through the ESF
resources, play a crucial role in fighting against unemployment and social
exclusion. Italian public administration must start thinking in terms of impact
assessment and ex-ante evaluation, in order to build policies boosting the
territorial development and cohesion, while simultaneously redeeming the
quality of the public action. In this context, the paper presents an impact
assessment carried out on vocational training courses, which the Piedmont
Region co-financed by the ESF, discussing the methodological feasibility and
proposing a quasi-experimental evaluation strategy on the job placement of
vocational training students. The authors illustrate the design operational
choices and the implementation of the assessment, stating the advantages and
disadvantages. To this extent, the sampling strategy is explained, with
particular attention to the identification of a proper control sample, finally
identified on the basis of the course drop-outs. The paper proposes an accurate
description of gross and net impact evaluation strategies. Gross impact
evaluation is carried out through an analysis of the employment outcomes in the
mid-term and it represents just a crude measure of training effects. Net impact
evaluation is estimated through net employment differentials between the main
and the control sample, as well as through multivariate probit analysis, which
investigates the effects of individual characteristics on the probability of
being employed a year later the end of the course. The selection bias problem
is discussed, illustrating the strategy adopted to measure and counteract its
effects. In conclusion, the authors distill this research experience through a
series of lectures about both the methods and the process of evaluating
training effectiveness.
[1] Paper presentato alla XXXIV
Conferenza Italiana Scienze Regionali, Palermo, 2-3 settembre 2013. Sessione
SP35 – Valutazione di politiche, piani e programmi.
[2]e-mail Sella:
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(corresponding author), e-mail Ragazzi:
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.