Dynamic evaluation of job search assistance

This paper evaluates a job search assistance program for unemployed teachers where the assignment to the program is dynamic. We discuss the methodology of estimating dynamic treatment effects and identification conditions. In the empirical analysis, we use administrative data from a unique institutional environment in which we observe all variables determining assignment to the job search assistance program. This allows us to compare results from a dynamic discrete-time evaluation model and a continuous-time duration model. All approaches show that participation in the job search assistance program reduces exit rates from unemployment, in particular when starting the program early during the spell of unemployment. The discrete-time approach makes less strict parametric assumptions, but the results are sensitive to the choice of control group and the unit of time.