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Jump-Starting Self-Employment? Evidence among Welfare Participants in Argentina

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  • Almeida, Rita K.

    (World Bank)

  • Galasso, Emanuela

    (World Bank)

Abstract
One important concern of governments in developing countries is on how to phase-out large safety nets programs. This paper evaluates the short run effects of one possible exit strategy, programs that promote self-employment, in Argentina. We provide evidence that a small fraction of beneficiaries were attracted by this program. Overall, potential participants to self-employment are more likely to be female household heads and more educated beneficiaries relative to the average Jefes beneficiaries. Using non-experimental methods, we show that participation in the program does affect labor supply of participants, by reducing the probability of having an outside job especially for males and increasing the total number of hours worked. However, the intervention fails to produce on average income gains to participating individuals and households in the short run. The fact that a very small subset of former welfare beneficiaries are attracted to the program, coupled with the fact that only a subset of participants (younger and more educated beneficiaries, and with previous self-employment experience) has important implications for this intervention to represent a viable exit strategy from welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Almeida, Rita K. & Galasso, Emanuela, 2007. "Jump-Starting Self-Employment? Evidence among Welfare Participants in Argentina," IZA Discussion Papers 2902, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2902
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    Cited by:

    1. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen, 2011. "Start-up subsidies for the unemployed: Long-term evidence and effect heterogeneity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 311-331.
    2. Alessio Brown & Johannes Koettl, 2015. "Active labor market programs - employment gain or fiscal drain?," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, December.
    3. Zofia Gródek-Szostak & Marcin Suder & Anna Szeląg-Sikora & Luis Ochoa Siguencia, 2020. "The “Dobry Czas Na Biznes” (“Good Time for Business”) Program as a Form of Support for Self-Employment in Poland. A Case Study of the Sub-Regions of the Małopolskie Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-17, November.
    4. Robert W. Fairlie & Dean Karlan & Jonathan Zinman, 2015. "Behind the GATE Experiment: Evidence on Effects of and Rationales for Subsidized Entrepreneurship Training," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 7(2), pages 125-161, May.
    5. Melanie Khamis, 2012. "Is Informal Sector Work an Alternative to Workfare Benefits? The Case of Pre-program Expansion and Economic Crisis," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(4), pages 579-593, November.
    6. Angel-Urdinola, Diego F. & Semlali, Amina & Brodmann, Stefanie, 2010. "Non-public provision of active labor market programs in Arab- Mediterranean countries : an inventory of youth programs," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 55673, The World Bank.
    7. David McKenzie, 2010. "Impact Assessments in Finance and Private Sector Development: What Have We Learned and What Should We Learn?," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 25(2), pages 209-233, August.
    8. Antonia Asenjo & Verónica Escudero & Hannah Liepmann, 2024. "Why Should we Integrate Income and Employment Support? A Conceptual and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(1), pages 1-29, January.
    9. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen & Wießner, Frank, 2012. "Der Gründungszuschuss in Brandenburg: Eine regionale Analyse," IZA Research Reports 48, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Premand, Patrick & Brodmann, Stefanie & Almeida, Rita & Grun, Rebekka & Barouni, Mahdi, 2016. "Entrepreneurship Education and Entry into Self-Employment Among University Graduates," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 311-327.
    11. Niclas Lavesson, 2018. "How does distance to urban centres influence necessity and opportunity‐based firm start‐ups?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 97(4), pages 1279-1303, November.
    12. Marco Caliendo & Jens Hogenacker & Steffen Künn & Frank Wießner, 2012. "Alte Idee, neues Programm: Der Gründungszuschuss als Nachfolger von Überbrückungsgeld und Ich-AG [Old idea, new program: The new start-up subsidy as a successor of the former bridging allowance and," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 45(2), pages 99-123, July.
    13. Marco Caliendo & Steffen Künn, 2015. "Getting back into the labor market: the effects of start-up subsidies for unemployed females," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 28(4), pages 1005-1043, October.
    14. Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2007. "What Works Best for Getting the Unemployed Back to Work: Employment Services or Small-Business Assistance Programmes? Evidence from Romania," IZA Discussion Papers 3051, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Alexandria Valerio & Brent Parton & Alicia Robb, 2014. "Entrepreneurship Education and Training Programs around the World : Dimensions for Success," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 18031.
    16. Michaelides, Marios & Benus, Jacob, 2012. "Are self-employment training programs effective? Evidence from Project GATE," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 695-705.
    17. Núria Rodríguez‐Planas, 2010. "Channels through which Public Employment Services and Small Business Assistance Programmes Work," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 72(4), pages 458-485, August.
    18. Ulrike Huemer & Rainer Eppel & Marion Kogler & Helmut Mahringer & Lukas Schmoigl & David Pichler, 2021. "Effektivität von Instrumenten der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik in unterschiedlichen Konjunkturphasen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 67250, March.
    19. Kuddo, Arvo, 2009. "Employment services and active labor market programs in Eastern European and Central Asian countries," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 51253, The World Bank.
    20. Premand, Patrick & Brodmann, Stefanie & Almeida, Rita K. & Grun, Rebekka & Barouni, Mahdi, 2012. "Entrepreneurship Training and Self-Employment among University Graduates: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Tunisia," IZA Discussion Papers 7079, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    21. Milazzo, Annamaria & Grosh, Margaret, 2008. "Social safety nets in World Bank lending and analytical work : FY2002 - 2007," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 44730, The World Bank.
    22. Emla Fitzsimons & Marcos Vera-Hernandez, 2009. "A Practicioner's Guide to Evaluating the Impacts of Labor Market Programs," World Bank Publications - Reports 11713, The World Bank Group.
    23. Margaret Grosh & Carlo del Ninno & Emil Tesliuc & Azedine Ouerghi, 2008. "For Protection and Promotion : The Design and Implementation of Effective Safety Nets," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 6582.
    24. Peter J. Glick & Crystal Huang & Nelly Mejia, 2015. "The Private Sector and Youth Skills and Employment Programs in Low and Middle-Income Countries," World Bank Publications - Reports 23260, The World Bank Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    self-employment; labor markets; impact evaluation; Argentina;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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