Evaluating the impact of driver's licenses on the employability of low-skilled youth (Pilot)

Last registered on January 07, 2014
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Evaluating the impact of driver's licenses on the employability of low-skilled youth (Pilot)
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0000201
First published
January 07, 2014, 8:47 AM EST

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

Locations

Country
South Africa
Region
Gauteng

Primary Investigator

Name
Grant Bridgman
Affiliation
J-PAL Africa
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Kamilla Gumeded
PI Affiliation
J-PAL Africa
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Bryan Plummer
PI Affiliation
J-PAL Africa
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
Abandoned
Start date
2012-08-30
End date
2012-12-01
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
Pilot, low-skilled youth, employment
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We ran a pilot that evaluated a program seeking to assist unemployed youth (18-35) to obtain a valid driver's license by providing full and partial scholarships towards the road-safety training course and road test booking. We subsequently planned to track their employment outcomes there-after in order to evaluate the impact that a driver's license had on their employability. However, due to very poor learners' and drivers' license pass rates, the evaluation was halted. The evaluation was conducted as a randomized evaluation, where a sample of eligible unemployed youth was identified in Guateng (approximately 60 in total) and were invited to a screening day where we conducted a short survey to determine their current employability (skills, education, etc), their job-seeking activities (what jobs to they apply for, how do they apply, etc?) and gauge there interest in the driving program.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Bridgman, Grant, Kamilla Gumeded and Bryan Plummer. 2014. "Evaluating the impact of driver's licenses on the employability of low-skilled youth (Pilot)." AEA RCT Registry. January 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.201-1.0
Former Citation
Bridgman, Grant, Kamilla Gumeded and Bryan Plummer. 2014. "Evaluating the impact of driver's licenses on the employability of low-skilled youth (Pilot)." AEA RCT Registry. January 07. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/201/history/822
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
From our exploratory research it is clear that it is best to include a learner’s license component in the design. Thus the intervention would include subsidized training for a learner’s as well as a driver’s license. Partnering with TMI Dynamatics will facilitate implementation and avoid high attrition rates as they have more than 2 years of experience in this field. The actual training for the learner’s and driver’s license will follow the TMI tested process. The training for the learner’s license is classroom-style computer based learning. This includes regular assessments and progress updates to ensure that candidates are progressing satisfactorily. The pace of this training will be determined by the capabilities of the candidates.
The driver’s license training makes use of various tools. These include on the road lessons in car, lessons in a simulator where skills learned in the car are reinforced, and K53 theory lessons. Lessons are video-taped for analysis, and candidates are regularly assessed and their progress closely monitored. Again, the pace of the driver’s license training is determined by the capabilities of the candidates.
Assistance is also provided for the booking of Driver’s License Testing Centre (DLTC) tests, as well as transport to and from the tests.

The extent of the subsidy could go so far as to fully subsidise the entire cost of obtaining a driver’s license, including the cost of booking and issuance fees payable to the DLTCs. In this scenario there would however need to be some form of financial commitment from the candidate in order to ensure that they complete the training. For example there might be a deposit required which will only be refunded once the candidate has completed their training and/or attended 90% of their lessons. Alternatively the candidates could be required to finance 15 – 20% of the total cost of the training, the purpose being the same as the refundable deposit. In the pilot we will explore different incentive schemes in order to identify the most suitable method.
Intervention Start Date
2012-09-03
Intervention End Date
2012-11-12

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Employment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The target group for the intervention is unemployed youth, aged 18 to 35, who are less skilled and have lower levels of education. The aim is to provide youth from low income backgrounds with an essential skill which they might not have otherwise been able to afford. For the pilot we are looking at taking roughly 35 such young people through the requisite training for a learner’s and a driver’s license. Initially, roughly 400 people will be contacted through the NYDA (National Youth Development Association) database in each of the pilot locations. Interested persons will be called back and asked to have a short phone discussion that would allow us to do some basic screening of the applicants. The details of the driver’s licence training program will also be explained to them. Please refer to the “SMS and phone call protocol” document for details. Approximately 60 youth will be randomly selected, and become the sample group for the pilot, from the larger pool of applicants that meet the minimal requirements. These youth will be invited to come to the TMI offices, where the program will be explained in full, and where about half of them will be selected into the training program with scholarships, while the other remaining applicants that choose to participate will make up the comparison group.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Public lottery
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
60 low-skilled youth
Sample size: planned number of observations
60 low-skilled youth
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
30 low-skilled youth in the control, 30 low-skilled youth in the treatment
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Commerce Faculty Ethics in Research Committee, University of Cape Town
IRB Approval Date
2012-09-07
IRB Approval Number
UCT/COM/082/2012
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
Yes
Intervention Completion Date
November 12, 2012, 12:00 +00:00
Data Collection Complete
Yes
Data Collection Completion Date
November 12, 2012, 12:00 +00:00
Final Sample Size: Number of Clusters (Unit of Randomization)
Was attrition correlated with treatment status?
Final Sample Size: Total Number of Observations
Final Sample Size (or Number of Clusters) by Treatment Arms
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
No
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials