Lisa Sella

Migration and work: the cohesive role of vocational training policies

Migration and work are truly connected notions, both because one major cause of migration is the search of better working conditions, and because work is a fundamental vehicle of social cohesion, especially for the migrants. Hence, the European social model strongly connects social cohesion and employment policies, fostering sustainable growth and integration by offering increasing job opportunities, particularly concerning the weak categories. Therefore, work is a pillar of active citizenship and a fundamental step in individuals’ self-construction and the development of social abilities. In such context, vocational training represents a twofold integration channel, combining both education and work paths. Hence, the European Commission (2010) fosters a cohesive growth through vocational education and training (VET) policies, promoting a modern VET system and increasing its quality and efficiency. In Italy, the role of VET is particularly important for first- and second-generation immigrants, who are more likely to attend VET courses than different education paths. However, Italy is the only European country where VET is perceived like a segregation path, rather than like a port of entry to active citizenship and true integration. In fact, Cedefop (2011) notices that high linguistic barriers and rigid teaching methods characterize the Italian vocational education, while it stresses the high flexibility of Italian vocational training, including an higher adaptability to immigrants’ needs. The present work discusses the hypothesis of “subordinate integration” of immigrants into the Italian VET system. In particular, it examines the effectiveness of Piedmont VT policies in fostering employability of weak subjects. The results of a CATI survey on a representative sample of Piedmont VT students suggest no specific discrimination to the detriment of immigrants, whose individual background and work assimilation is similar to that of Italian VT students. Moreover, the net impact evaluation suggests a positive impact of training courses on strangers, which is generally higher for communitarian immigrants. Hence, immigrants’ participation to VT courses in Italy seems to denote a sort of normalization strategy of their specific differences, rather than a subordinate integration scheme.

Valutare l’impatto della formazione professionale sull’inserimento lavorativo: lezioni da una ricerca in Regione Piemonte

The paper presents an impact assessment of vocational training courses, which the Piedmont Region co-financed by the ESF, both discussing the methodological feasibility and proposing a quasi-experimental evaluation strategy based on the medium-term job placement of vocational training students. The authors illustrate the operational design and the implementation of the assessment, with particular attention to the identification of a proper control sample, finally identified on the basis of the course noshows and drop-outs. The paper proposes an accurate description of gross and net impact evaluation strategies. The gross impact evaluation is carried out through an analysis of the employment outcomes in the mid-term, while the net impact is estimated through net employment differentials between the main and the counterfactual sample, as well as through a multivariate probit analysis, which investigates the effects of individual characteristics on the probability of being employed a year later the end of the course. The selection bias problem is discussed, illustrating the strategy adopted to identify and counteract its effects. In conclusion, the authors distill this research experience through a series of lessons learned about both the methods and the evaluation assessment of training effectiveness. Key words: vocational training; impact evaluation; counterfactual analysis; sampling; multivariate analysis; selection bias.

I dati amministrativi per la valutazione delle politiche: riscontri dall’esperienza piemontese sul FSE

The impact assessment of social and labour policies is mainly based on direct inquiry on their recipients. In the case of net impact assessments, one has to observe a group of untreated individuals that is very homogeneous with respect to the treated. However, the very high cost of direct surveys limits their scope, as it prevents large sample size, hindering the reliability of estimates. The access to databases created for different purposes (fiscal, administrative, monitoring) could overcome the above limitations, with much convenience in terms of cost and data quality. This paper presents a validation exercise based on a very broad and complex employment database, the Comunicazioni Obbligaorie (COB), that collects employers’ compulsory notifications in the case of changes in a job contract. This exercise was possible thanks to an extraordinary condition, giving contemporaneous access to two different data sources, the COB database and a direct survey on recipients of vocational training policies in the Piedmont Region. The paper discusses the main differences between employment indicators evaluated on direct survey data and on COB data. Inconsistencies involve the 20% sample. In addition, such inconsistencies do distort the net impact assessment, since the key variables for placement outcomes vary significantly. Hence, whenever administrative databases are used as a source for socioeconomic analyses, extreme caution and critical thinking must be used, verifying the reliability of estimates deriving from their use and comparing results with other sources. In the lack of such preliminary validation, which should be carried out in close collaboration with the regional or national authorities managing the information systems, we run the risk not only to uncritically accept information producing systematic bias, but also to prevent the development of procedures that are essential for the system development.

Gender Inequalities and Labour Market Inclusion. An Integrated Approach to Vocational Training in Piedmont

In the field of public policies there is a lot of interest in vocational training issues, because of spillovers in the labour market as well as on quality of life. Reports by the European Commission show that women are disadvantaged subjects in the labour market but, at the same time, they are more ambitious and achieve best results from an educational point of view. This paper aims to analyse Piedmont Region data on vocational training policies, focusing on the role of women in the labour market. The data refer to subjects who completed training courses in 2011 and our analysis is based on interviews, in order to evaluate the effects of training on the medium-term employment outcomes of trainees. A control sample is selected so as to evaluate the effect of training, with a specific focus on women. Probit models and average marginal effects (AMEs) allow estimating the net impact of training in the labour market. The results suggest that the employment gap between men and women is completely bridged in trainees, also when considering qualitative aspects of employment.

I benefici delle valutazioni "ripetute". Evidenze da un’esperienza piemontese

L’articolo intende proporre una riflessione sugli specifici contributi in termini di apprendimento che possono essere innescati da una valutazione ciclica di un programma o intervento pubblico. Il caso proposto e quello dell’indagine di Placement della Formazione Professionale in Regione Piemonte, svolta dal 2011 al 2014. Attraverso una lettura diacronica dei quattro rapporti annuali del Placement , vengono presentate tre dimensioni di analisi che si giovano del confronto intertemporale, rispettivamente connesse alle dinamiche finanziarie, degli esiti occupazionali e degli impatti netti. L’articolo, individuando le principali evidenze emergenti dalle diverse dimensioni d’analisi, discute gli apprendimenti prodotti dalle stesse in termini metodologici e di policy.

Antenne sociali per la formazione iniziale: un approccio strutturale per la rilevazione dei bisogni

Good territorial policy planning needs preliminary considerations about local needs. The present case study intends to reflect on the importance of policy reference context, starting from the identification of initial trainees’ needs in a vocational training centre in Piedmont. This research experience designs a detection system (social antenna) aiming at identifying systemic needs of students and their families, in order to provide appropriate policy making tools. The multi-dimensionality of trainees’ social disadvantage is addressed by structural equation modeling. The present social antenna is specifically designed to detect the changing needs of young trainees, but the systematization of this methodological approach can guarantee the use of social antennas in different areas and contexts. The fil rouge is the ability to provide policy indications on-the-fly, so that the policy makers can instantaneously (re)orient interventions, depending on environmental changes.

Individual Disadvantage and Training Policies: The Construction of “Model-Based” Composite Indicators

In evaluating a policy, it is fundamental to represent its multiple dimensions and the targets it affects. Indeed, the impact of a policy generally involves a combination of socio-economic aspects that are difficult to represent. In this study, regional training policies are addressed, which are aimed at closing the huge gaps in employability and social inclusion of Italian trainees. Previous counterfactual estimates of the net impact of regional training policies reveal the need to observe and take into account the manifold aspects of trainees’ weaknesses. In fact, the target population consists of very disadvantaged individuals, who tend to experience difficult situations in the labour market. To overcome this shortfall, the present paper proposes Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) that considers the impact of trainees’ socio-economic conditions on the policy outcome itself. In particular, the ex ante human capital (HC) is estimated from the educational, social and individual backgrounds. Next, the labour and training policies augment the individual HC, affecting labour market outcomes jointly with individual job-search behaviour. All these phenomena are expressed by a wide set of manifest variables and synthesised by composite indicators calculated with Partial Least Squares SEM (SEM-PLS). The construction of the SEM is appraised and applied to the case of trainees in compulsory education.

Sostenere le imprese agro-industriali in Piemonte: un’analisi controfattuale

Il paper analizza il ruolo del Programma di Sviluppo Rurale nel supportare il settore agroindustriale piemontese attraverso una valutazione ex post con metodo controfattuale quasi sperimentale. Il matching e realizzato con il recente algoritmo Coarsened Exact Matching (Blackwell et al., 2009). I risultati indicano nel medio periodo caratteristiche strutturali significativamente piu stabili per le imprese beneficiarie, nonostante la perdurante crisi economica. Dal punto di vista metodologico si evidenzia come le tecniche di matching, il timing delle analisi e il management dei dati influenzino fortemente l’analisi di impatto.