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Flores-Lagunes study on Job Corps training and wages published in American Economic Review

Apr 30, 2013

The Effects of Job Corps Training on Wages of Adolescents and Young Adults

German Blanco, Carlos A. Flores & Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

American Economic Review, April 2013

Alfonso Flores-Lagunes

Alfonso Flores-Lagunes


Previous evaluations of Job Corps document disparate effects on the earnings of adolescents (aged 16-19) and young adults (aged 20-24). These are conjectured to be due to differential human capital accumulation within the program between these groups. If correct, the effect of the program on wages should be larger than that on earnings, since wages more accurately reflect human capital. The authors estimate bounds on average and quantile treatment effects of Job Corps on wages and find that the relative effects on both outcomes are similar, casting some doubt on the conjecture that human capital is driving the disparate effects.