Informing employees in small and medium sized firms about training: a randomized field experiment

Last registered on April 22, 2019

View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Informing employees in small and medium sized firms about training: a randomized field experiment

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0004118

Initial registration date

April 18, 2019

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

April 22, 2019, 11:29 AM EDT

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

Locations

Country

Germany

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

Gesine Stephan

Affiliation

IAB

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Gerard van den Berg

PI Affiliation

Additional Trial Information

Status

Completed

Start date

2014-02-14

End date

2019-04-17

Keywords

Education, Labor

Additional Keywords

employment, wages, skills, information treatment

JEL code(s)

J24, J65

Secondary IDs

Abstract

We mailed brochures to 10,000 randomly chosen employed German workers in small and medium-sized firms eligible for a subsidized occupational training program called WeGebAU. We informed them about the importance of skill-upgrading occupational training in general and about WeGebAU in particular. Using survey and register data, we estimate effects of the information treatment brochure on awareness of the program, on take-up of WeGebAU and other training, and on subsequent employment.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

Stephan, Gesine and Gerard van den Berg. 2019. "Informing employees in small and medium sized firms about training: a randomized field experiment." AEA RCT Registry. April 22. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4118-1.0

Former Citation

Sponsors & Partners

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Intervention Start Date

2014-06-02

Intervention End Date

2014-06-03

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

We are interested if the information treatment increased awareness of the WeGebAU program among employed workers. Moreover, we are interested in whether treatment subsequently increased their participation in general training and subsidized training. Finally, we want to evaluate if the treatment affected also workers’ labour market outcomes, i.e., earnings, the probability of changing the job, staying employed or becoming unemployed.

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Workers employed in firms with less than 250 employees are eligible to participate in a program called WeGebAU, which provides training subsidies. Statistics by the Federal Employment Agency show that only a small share of all eligible workers takes up this kind of subsidy. To learn if workers lack information on the program and are therefore not aware of its existence, we conduct a randomized controlled trial. Based on German register data from the Federal Employment Agency, we identify employees that meet the program’s eligibility criteria. We then randomize 10,000 of these workers into the treatment group and 10,000 of these workers into the control group. As the eligibility criteria differ for workers at least 45 years old and younger workers, we randomly select 5,000 workers into each treatment and each control group for both age groups. On June 2, 2014 workers in the treatment group received a short cover letter and an information brochure. This brochure contained information on the importance of life-long learning and the benefits of training in general. Moreover, it contained information about WeGebAU and its entitlement conditions. Based on register data and a follow-up survey (collecting among others information on the workers’ awareness on WeGebAU and training participation) we can evaluate treatment effectiveness.

Experimental Design Details

Randomization Method

Randomization done in office by a computer

Randomization Unit

employed workers

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

20,000 employees

Sample size: planned number of observations

20,000 employees

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

5,000 employees below age 45 treatment,
5,000 employees 45 years and older treatment,
5,000 employees below age 45 control,
5,000 employees 45 years and older control

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

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB