WORKER INCREASE EMPLOYMENT

This paper examines whether unemployed individuals gain from being counselled by a caseworker belonging to the same social group. A social group is formed according to characteristics such as gender, age, education and nationality. From psychology, it is known that interactions between individuals are determined by belonging to a particular group. This analysis is made possible by an unusual informative data set on characteristics of Swiss unemployed linked with their caseworker's characteristics. Using statistical matching methods from the treatment evaluation literature, we find that belonging to the same social group as defined by gender, age, education and nationality increases significantly reintegration rates. Same gender counselling has neither positive nor negative effects on employment.

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