Political Economy and Development

My thesis consists of three chapters related to the broad topic of political economy and development. The first chapter has begun taking shape and is currently in the beginning stages of implementation.

The first chapter of my thesis is a randomized control trial aiming to evaluate the impact of the project on vocational education, life skills training, and labor market placement for vulnerable young adults - especially internally displaced persons - in Bogotá’s marginalized Bosa and Soacha districts. The project is implemented by the Swiss NGO Vivamos Mejor and its local partner Fundación Apoyar. Generally in Latin America, studies seem to find some effect of vocational training on employment, but results are far from conclusive.The lack of a clear positive effect is puzzling. It is therefore perhaps not only hard skills, but also soft, "life" skills, which vulnerable youth cannot access. This study can clarify if, and to what extent, programs with complementary treatments are more effective than programs with only vocational education. Study participants are currently being randomly sorted into three different groups: a control group, a treatment group receiving vocational education (Treatment 2), and a treatment group receiving vocational education, psychosocial support and citizen empowerment training - our life skills training component (Treatment 1). Each group is composed of 100 young adults. We have begun baseline data collection. The project itself will run from February to December 2019, and the final data collection will take place in November 2021.

The second two chapters of my thesis have yet to be developed, but will be loosely related to the broader topic listed above.