2025/02/06 by Adam Osman, Jamin D. Speer · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · Psychology · #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Higher Education Research Studies #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
paper · doi:10.1177/00197939251316849
openalex publication_date 2025/02/06 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The authors study how complementarities in skill may affect the returns to vocational training using a randomized controlled trial in Cairo, Egypt. Participants, who were college-educated, were given either a four-week training in soft skills (e.g., grooming, time management), technical skills (e.g., Microsoft programs, English language), or a mix of the two (half of each). Findings show large differences in outcomes between the three treatments. The technical and mixed treatments do best in the short term, raising first-job income by about 15%, relative to the soft skill treatment. In the longer term, the mixed-skill treatment significantly outperforms the other two treatments, giving participants 20–27% higher income. The high returns for this group may come from increased access to jobs that require speaking English, which may be at higher-quality employers. Overall, the results suggest that curriculum details play an important role in the outcomes of vocational training programs and that leveraging skill complementarity can yield tangible benefits.