We examine the effect of the Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services system. This program "profiles" Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants to determine their probability of benefit exhaustion and then provides mandatory employment and training services to claimants with high predicted probabilities. Using a unique experimental design, we estimate that the program reduces mean weeks of UI benefit receipt by about 2.2 weeks, reduces mean UI benefits received by about $143, and increases subsequent earnings by over $1,050. Most of the effect results from a sharp increase in early UI exits in the treatment group relative to the control group.
Oi argues that the costs of monitoring employees rise with the value of the entrepreneur's time. One way of economizing on these monitoring costs is through the provision of on‐the‐job training for new employees. In this paper, we argue that differences in training by firm‐ and establishment‐size arise from cost advantages for larger firms; specifically, large firms and establishments have economies of scale in the provision of formal training and greater opportunities for informal coworker training. A unique data set is employed to estimate the relation among employer size and the intensity, duration, and composition of various training measures. It is possible that these cost advantages, which lead to greater amounts of training for employees of large firms, may explain, in part, the wage rate‐firm size differential.