| By: |
Premand, Patrick;
Brodmann, Stefanie;
Almeida, Rita;
Grun, Rebekka;
Barouni, Mahdi |
| Abstract: |
In economies characterized by low labor demand and high rates of youth
unemployment, entrepreneurship training has the potential to enable youth to
gain skills and create their own jobs. This paper presents experimental
evidence on a new entrepreneurship track that provides business training and
personalized coaching to university students in Tunisia. Undergraduates in the
final year of licence appliquee were given the opportunity to graduate with a
business plan instead of following the standard curriculum. This paper relies
on randomized assignment of the entrepreneurship track to identify impacts on
labor market outcomes one year after graduation. The analysis finds that the
entrepreneurship track was effective in increasing self-employment among
applicants, but that the effects are small in absolute terms. In addition, the
employment rate among participants remains unchanged, pointing to a partial
substitution from wage employment to self-employment. The evidence shows that
the program fostered business skills, expanded networks, and affected a range
of behavioral skills. Participation in the entrepreneurship track also
heightened graduates’ optimism toward the future shortly after the Tunisian
revolution. |
| Keywords: |
Tertiary Education,Labor Markets,Primary Education,Access to Finance,Educational Sciences |
| Date: |
2012–12–01 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6285&r=ent |