Piloted in six parts of Great Britain between 2003 and 2007, the ERA trial was designed to test the effectiveness of an innovative package of time-limited support that combined job coaching and financial incentives to reward sustained full-time work and encourage training for those in work. Eligibility for the ERA offer was granted to those starting the New Deal for Lone Parents or the New Deal for the Long-Term Unemployed, and to lone parents already in part-time work who volunteered for ERA. With over 16,000 individuals being randomly assigned, the study represented the largest randomised evaluation of a social programme in the UK.
This project will address 3 research questions:
- Can non-experimental methods replicate the results of randomised controlled trials (RCTs)?
- How can we combine results from RCTs with models of labour market behaviour?
- How do general equilibrium effects alter estimated impacts of training programmes?
