girumabe/Factory-Jobs

Do Factory Jobs Improve Welfare? Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia # Factory-Jobs Do Factory Jobs Improve Welfare? Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia Citation: Title Statement Ethiopia – Do Factory Jobs Improve Welfare? Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia Authoring Entity / Primary Investigator Girum Abebe, World Bank Niklas Buehren, World Bank Markus Goldstein, World Bank Other Identifications / Acknowledgements The Ethiopian Development Research Institute, Implemented the baseline and first follow-up survey The Policy Studies Institute, Implemented the end-line survey Taylor Van Salisbury, Research assistant Adiam Hagos, Research assistant Scope: Keywords and Topic Classifications Ethiopia Industrial Park Factory job Female employment Income Abstract We study the impact of a light-touch job facilitation intervention that supported young female jobseekers during the application process for factory work in a newly constructed industrial park in Ethiopia. Using data from a panel of 687 jobseekers and randomized access to the support intervention, we find that treated applicants are more likely to be employed and have higher earnings and savings 8 months after baseline, although these impacts are short-lived. Four years later, the effects on employment and income largely dissipated. Our results suggest that young women face significant barriers to engaging in factory work in the short run that a simple job facilitation intervention can help overcome. In the long term, however, these jobs do not offer a better alternative than other income-generating opportunities. KEY VARIABLES This survey was designed to capture indicators on the following: Employment Job search Earnings Expenditures Health and strenuosity Cognitive skills Expectations and perception Empowerment USES OF DATA The baseline data is used to assess the pre-program situation of eligible young women seeking for jobs in factories in many aspects of their lives. The midline and endline data are used to compare relevant indicators t …