Learning and Earning: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India

Pushkar Maitra, Monash University

This paper examines the economic returns from participating in a subsidized vocational education program in stitching and tailoring offered to women residing in certain disadvantaged areas of New Delhi, India. We find that women who were randomly offered the training program are almost five percentage points more likely to be employed, six percentage points more likely to look for a job, on an average work two additional hours, and earn almost twice as much in the post-training period compared to women who were not offered the training. There is a also a large increase in the ownership of sewing machine in the post-training period. The program impacts are much larger for women who completed the training program. Finally, a simple cost-benefit analysis suggests that the program is highly cost-effective.