Upjohn Author ORCID Identifier
Series
Upjohn Institute working paper ; 26-441
DOI
10.17848/wp26-441
Issue Date
September 2026
Abstract
Several training programs worldwide are residential, bringing enrollees to live in facilities and thus increasing program costs. In the U.S., the Job Corps (JC) program for disadvantaged youth includes a residential component. Despite extensive literature evaluating JC, the impact of the residential component has received limited attention. We develop and employ a semi-parametric model to estimate the average causal effects of this residential component, accounting for selection into both the program and the residential feature. Our findings indicate that, for JC enrollees, the residential component boosts earnings, employment, and educational degree attainment among adolescents. For other subgroups, the residential component has minimal impact on labor market outcomes but increases detrimental behaviors such as drug use, drinking, and smoking. For example, the average treatment effect of the residential component raises hard drug use by 150% among young adults and by 92% among females without children; it also increases smoking among females without children by 47%. Negative peer effects may explain the increase in detrimental health behaviors.
Subject Areas
EDUCATION; Postsecondary education; Career and technical education; Postsecondary access; LABOR MARKET ISSUES; Wages, health insurance and other benefits; WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT; Public training programs
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Economic Policy Commons, Labor Economics Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Vocational Education Commons
Citation
Cai, Jun, Alfonso Flores-Lagunes, and Xintong Wang. 2026. "The Heterogeneous Impacts of the Residential Component of a Training Program: A Semi-Parametric Analysis." Upjohn Institute Working Paper 26-441. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://doi.org/10.17848/wp26-441