Jaramillo, M., Galdo, J. y Montalva, V. (2009). Pobreza e impactos heterogéneos de las políticas activas del empleo juvenil: el caso de PROJOVEN en el Perú (Documento de Trabajo N° 54). Lima: GRADE.

This study analyses the relationship between household poverty and the impacts of active employment promotion policies in Peru. In particular, we analyse the PROJOVEN Youth Employment Training Programme, which, since 1996, has directly benefited close to 50,000 poor youth. The poverty status of PROJOVEN beneficiaries is approximated with an index based on 21 household assets.

Three main results emerge. First, the demographic and socio-economic inequalities found between beneficiaries and the eligible population are mainly due to individual decisions of young people rather than to administrative decisions of the programme operator. Second, high heterogeneity is observed in the distribution of impacts by income quantiles and strong differences in the distribution of impacts between males and females. Third, the heterogeneity of impacts is not explained by the poverty level of the beneficiaries. The poorest of the poor benefit as much from the programme as the least poor. It is the entity providing the training services (quality) that explains the heterogeneity of impacts.