The effect of public-sponsored job training in Japan

This study investigates the short-term effects of public-sponsored job training (PJT) for the unemployed on their subsequent working status and income using a large-scale Japanese government survey and the propensity score matching technique. We find a significantly positive effect on the probability of working for both men and women; however, the point estimate is larger for women than for men. We also find a gendered difference in the effects on income and probability of being employed as a regular worker, with significantly positive effects for women but no significant effects for men, suggesting that PJT might be more effective for women. We confirm that the results are robust to a range of empirical specifications.