Robert J. LaLonde

Should We Teach Old Dogs New Tricks? The Impact of Community College Retraining on Older Displaced Workers

This paper estimates the returns to retraining for older displaced workers—those 35 or older—by estimating the impact of community college schooling on earnings. Our analysis relies on longitudinal administrative records covering workers displaced from jobs in Washington State during the early 1990s. We find older displaced workers participate in community college schooling at lower rates than younger workers. But, among those who participate, the impact on quarterly earnings for older and younger displaced workers is similar. We estimate one academic year of community college schooling increases long-term earnings by about 7 percent for older males and by about 10 percent for older females. Although these percentages are consistent with those reported in the schooling literature, estimates of the social internal rates of return from this retraining may differ significantly among older and younger workers because of differences in their work lives and their opportunity costs of retraining.

Should Government Go It Alone or with a Partner: A Comparison of Outcomes from a Work Release Program Using Different Policy Tools

This study compares the effectiveness of two different approaches to the delivery of human services-direct government and a collaboration between government and a nonprofit provider using a point of service contract. A work release program in Illinois provides the study context. We apply multiple econometric techniques for analysis to address nonrandom assignment of program participants, including: regression with fixed-effects; and propensity score matching. Labor market outcomes for the collaborative approach were significantly better than outcomes associated with direct government. Our discussion and results add to several literatures: policy tools; policy implementation; collaborations; point of service contracts; work release programs; and sector differences.