Abstract

This paper complements the empirical literature on the impact evaluation of training courses, by comparing the benefits of training courses with the costs borne by the public administration to implement them. We focus on long-duration vocational training courses for unemployed people implemented in the autonomous Province of Trento (Italy) in 2010 and 2011, and we find a positive impact on the probability of being employed three years after the programme. Training programmes also have positive effects on earnings, but the overall benefits in the two or three years after the programme do not cover the costs incurred in their delivery.