Screening through Activation: Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Programme

We study the dual role of active labour market policies: First, ALMP may perform a screening role by increasing job-finding rates among individuals with good labour market prospects, already prior to programme participation. Second, actual program participation may help individuals with poor labour market prospects. We demonstrate how these effects arise within a search theoretic framework. Utilizing an RD design, we analyse responses to a nationwide Swedish youth activation program. We find that individuals with a high predicted probability of finding work respond to the threat of activation, whereas there is no effect for individuals with weak labour market prospects.