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The right person for the right job: Can information about job prospects reduce dropout in a large Indian training programme?

Last registered on February 26, 2020

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

The right person for the right job: Can information about job prospects reduce dropout in a large Indian training programme?

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0003611

Initial registration date

December 10, 2018

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

December 10, 2018, 2:17 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated

February 26, 2020, 7:29 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country

Region

Country

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Bhaskar Chakravorty

Affiliation

Warwick University

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Roland Rathelot

PI Affiliation

University of Warwick

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Clément Imbert

PI Affiliation

University of Warwick

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Wiji Arulampalam

PI Affiliation

University of Warwick

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

On going

Start date

2018-12-13

End date

2021-02-28

Keywords

Education, Firms & Productivity, Labor

Additional Keywords

training, on-the-job-training, dropout, rural development, skills, job placement

JEL code(s)

Secondary IDs

J24, M51, M53

Abstract

DDU-GKY is a large-scale training programme in India. It is targeted at the rural poor youth, and combines short-term training with guaranteed job placement. Dropout during training and the lack of retention in placement jobs are the main problems faced by the programme. Based on evidence gathered in a previous project, we hypothesise that an important determinant of dropout is misinformation of trainees about the programme and placement jobs. We design an information intervention that takes the form of two information sessions, one before the training starts and the second before trainees are placed with employers for on-the-job training. We randomise these interventions across 90 training batches in Bihar and Jharkhand. We intend to use administrative and survey data to analyse the effects of these interventions on training completion, job uptake and retention, as well as other outcomes describing the labour-market and socio-economic situation of trainees.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Chakravorty, Bhaskar et al. 2020. "The right person for the right job: Can information about job prospects reduce dropout in a large Indian training programme?." AEA RCT Registry. February 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.3611-1.1

Former Citation

Chakravorty, Bhaskar et al. 2020. "The right person for the right job: Can information about job prospects reduce dropout in a large Indian training programme?." AEA RCT Registry. February 26. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/3611/history/63390

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention (A)
The intervention takes place at the very beginning of the training, before "batch freezing". Before batch freezing, trainee dropout has low cost for training providers: they have time to attract more students to meet their quantitative objectives. We gather trainees in a classroom and provide them with a list of detailed characteristics of potentially available placement jobs. The list includes job title, company name, location (city and state), and compensation package (net monthly wage and in-kind benefits). Trainees will have an opportunity to ask the placement officer, questions regarding the contents of the list.

Intervention (B)
This intervention takes place a few days before placement. We gather trainees in a classroom and provide them with a list of detailed characteristics of positions that are actually available to them for placement. The list includes job title, company name, location (city and state), and compensation package (net monthly wage and in-kind benefits). Trainees will have an opportunity to ask the placement officer questions regarding the contents of the list.

Intervention Start Date

2018-12-13

Intervention End Date

2020-10-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

Main outcomes: Job retention three months after the end of the training; Dropout before batch freezing; Training completion conditional on being there after batch freezing; Job retention after three months conditional on training completion.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Training completion and placement outcomes: from the administrative data of the state implementation agency.
Other labour-market outcomes: from the endline survey.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design

The experiment will be conducted as a randomised controlled trial with two arms, consisting of: (i) intervention A & B together, and (b) a control group (no intervention). The randomisation units are batches and the randomisation is stratified at the district*sector level.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

In the office by a computer.

Randomization Unit

Training batches.

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

90 training batches.

Sample size: planned number of observations

2,700 trainees (about 30 trainees per batch).

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

45 training batches control, and 45 training batches as treatment.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

We consider a power of 80% and a significance level of 5%. For the main outcome (retention in employment 3 months after placement), we assume a base mean of 70% and intra-cluster correlation of 0.1. The minimum detectable effect is 10.6 percentage points with 45 clusters per group and 30 observations per cluster.

Supporting Documents and Materials

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

Humanities and Social Science Research Ethics Committee, University of Warwick.

IRB Approval Date

2018-11-05

IRB Approval Number

56/17-18

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-analysis plan, before starting data analysis

MD5: 70578c0cb9b2896c60742f893b05a1f0

SHA1: c7b34761594fae8ec30f2dd7061486cdd965e76e

Uploaded At: February 26, 2020

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?

No

Data Collection Complete

Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?

No

Program Files

Program Files

Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials