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dc.titleSkill Certifications and Migrant Labor Market Integration: Experimental Evidence from Colombia
dc.contributor.authorBusso, Matías
dc.contributor.authorGonzález-Velosa, Carolina
dc.contributor.authorMuñoz-Morales, Juan S.
dc.contributor.authorRuiz, Juanita
dc.contributor.authorValencia Romero, Juan Diego
dc.contributor.authorvan der Werf, Cynthia
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.contributor.orgunitMigration Unit
dc.contributor.orgunitSocial Protection and Labor Markets Division
dc.contributor.orgunitSocial Sector
dc.coverageColombia
dc.coverageSouth America
dc.coverageLatin America
dc.date.available2026-10-15T00:10:00
dc.date.issue2026-10-15T00:10:00
dc.description.abstractThis paper studies whether government-issued skill certification improves labor market integration when workers skills are hard to verify. We evaluate a randomized offer of access to an occupation-specific certification program in Colombia to locals and migrants, two groups with different ex ante signaling capacity. The program certifies existing skills rather than providing training. Among locals, the offer increases employment by reducing inactivity and raises hours worked. The effects persist unevenly over time and are robust to attrition bounds and alternative outcome measures. Among migrants, estimates are less precise and provide no evidence of effects in employment, hours, or wages. The results show that a common skill certification generates different patterns of labor market adjustment among locals and migrants.
dc.format.extent77
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0014561
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Skill-Certifications-and-Migrant-Labor-Market-Integration-Experimental-Evidence-from-Colombia.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectSkills
dc.subjectWage
dc.subjectLabor Market
dc.subjectLabor Force
dc.subjectWorkforce and Employment
dc.subjectMigration and Migrant
dc.subjectEconomic Migration
dc.subjectLabor Migration
dc.subject.jelcodeJ24 - Human Capital • Skills • Occupational Choice • Labor Productivity
dc.subject.jelcodeJ61 - Geographic Labor Mobility • Immigrant Workers
dc.subject.jelcodeJ64 - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
dc.subject.jelcodeI26 - Returns to Education
dc.subject.jelcodeO15 - Human Resources • Human Development • Income Distribution • Migration
dc.subject.jelcodeD82 - Asymmetric and Private Information • Mechanism Design
dc.subject.keywordssignaling;certifications;skills;Migration
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberIDB-WP-01879
idb.operationCO-T1762
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