Chris Blattman
Yale University
Youth unemployment is widely considered a threat to development and to security. To reduce poverty and social instability, aid programs commonly provide youth with inputs to boost self-employment. We conduct an experimental study of Uganda‘s largest employment program, involving unconditional cash transfers to pay for vocational training, tools, and start-up costs. We find that most youth invest the majority of the transfer in vocational skills and business assets, and that these economic gains result in modest gains in social stability and declines in male aggression.
*The Massachusetts Ave. Development Seminar (MADS) is a ten year-old research seminar series that brings some of the world’s leading development scholars to discuss their new research and ideas. The presentations meet an academic standard of quality and are at times technical, but retain a focus on a mixed audience of researchers and policymakers.
