Seminar: Kadeem Noray, Harvard

Speaker

Kadeem Noray from Harvard

Biography

Kadeem is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Associate at Opportunity Insights at Harvard University, and a research advisor for Rise at Schmidt Futures. Kadeem earned his PhD in Public Policy (Economics Track) from Harvard University in 2023, an MS in Applied Economics from Montana State University in 2017 and a BS in Mathematics, Economics, and Physics at Hillsdale College in 2015. Kadeem’s research focuses on how talent markets function. Kadeem is also interested in labor economics and public economics more broadly.

Title

"Whose Bridge to Opportunity and Why? Unpacking the Impacts of Sectoral Job Training" (Namrata Narain, Harvard)

Abstract

This paper applies machine learning to data from a large RCT to study impact heterogeneity of a prominent sectoral job training program (Year Up) and to explore which mechanisms best explain who benefits from the program. We find that, three years post randomization, those in the top treatment effect quintile receive an earnings boost that is approximately three times those in the bottom treatment effect quintile. Furthermore, those who benefit least are disproportionately Black, female, and poor, highlighting an equity-effectiveness tradeoff faced by the program. Consistent with a theory where job-matching plays a key role in program effectiveness, we find that the variation in earnings impacts can be explained by improvements in quality of initial job placement but cannot be explained by improvements in measured character or career skills. Finally, we document that earnings trajectories are nearly identical for the experimental control group and a matched Census comparison group, which suggests that neither the earnings treatment effects or the heterogeneity are driven by the program’s applicant screening process.