Summer Youth Employment Programs are known to have significant impacts on youth outcomes based on lotteries from oversubscribed programs. But most cities cannot use a lottery design due to heterogeneity across youth and jobs. How can programs achieve efficiency and equity under alternative...

Materialism, characterized by prioritizing material possessions over intrinsic values, has been shown to negatively impact well-being, social behavior, and economic activities. However, limited research addresses interventions to reduce materialism in non-WEIRD societies, particularly in the...

This study estimates the labor market returns to non-cognitive skills among the youth under 30 years old during the early career stage. Using data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey (RLMS-HSE) for 2016 and 2019, it examines the effects of the Big Five personality traits (openness,...

This paper provides evidence on the impacts of armed conflict and climate change on individual labor intensity. Based on pooled labor force survey, climate, and conflict event data from 21 African countries, we document that climate change and armed conflict can create a polycrisis: the negative...

Developing policies to foster inclusive rural transformation processes requires better evidence on how climate change is affecting the livelihoods and economic behaviours of vulnerable rural people, including women, youths and people living in poverty. In particular, there is little comparative,...

We use a randomized controlled trial to examine the short- and mid-term impacts of a best-practice training program on (non-)employment outcomes in Ghana. Overall the program did not affect core labor market outcomes at the extensive (employment) and intensive (hours of work, income) margin, but...

We examine the effect of raising the minimum legal sale age of tobacco to 21 (i.e., "T21"). We estimate difference-in-differences models using the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey data and Nielsen Retail Scanner data from 2012 to 2019. Outcomes include cigarette and e-cigarette use and sales....

Using data from Thailand's Labour Force Survey from 2012 to 2021, the differences over time were investigated for the likelihood of youths moving between employment states, such as unemployment, employment and out of the labour force. Additional transitions were calculated for groups moving...

Youth employment challenges are always a critical concern for policymakers. There is recurring and mounting evidence that labour market challenges, such as unemployment, informality, lack of social protection and inactivity, disproportionately affect youths. This complex decision-making process...

This report provides a descriptive analysis of youth entrepreneurs in agribusiness in Sub-Saharan Africa. Based on primary data collected in Benin, Ethiopia and Senegal, it offers insights into the socio demographic background of the youth entrepreneurs as well as a detailed account of the...

We implement a randomized controlled trial in a low-income context to investigate whether students in lower-secondary school acquire information about potential career paths more effectively if this information is preceded by a task that allows students to explore their own interests and if the...

Although hope and aspirations are increasingly considered to be both intrinsically and instrumentally valuable, quantitative evidence on the formation of these factors is limited. Using data from a sample of educated youth in Myanmar, this paper documents the relationship between various sources...

This paper explores the post-grant phase of the Business Acceceleration for Youth (BA4Y) programme implemented at the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST), highlighting the transition from grant-supported initiatives to institutionalised innovation education and business growth for...

This paper examines the dynamics of life satisfaction for a sample of young Irish adults before, during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. Using longitudinal data from the Child cohort of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) survey we analyse changes in the Cantril ladder measure of life satisfaction...

This article assesses the impact of parents working from home on children's academic performance in high school. Using French data, we draw on the fact that, within each major social group, not all families have been equally exposed to the recent rise in work from home (WFH), depending on the...

This study investigates how entrepreneurship education delivered through school cooperatives can reduce early school dropout rates and prevent the NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) phenomenon. Drawing on social capital theory, we address the following research questions: (1) What...

This study evaluates a randomized trial in Côte d’Ivoire, implemented by the Africa Gender Innovation Lab (GIL), which tested whether varying the content and recipient of SMS reminders can increase enrollment among young people who had pre-registered for a skills training program. Messages...

Objective: The study aims to evaluate the internal validity of a scale measuring cultural traits in relation to Hofstede's framework and to identify the individual cultural characteristics of young people across three countries: Poland, South Korea, and the United States. Research Design &...

In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban youth under 16 years old from holding accounts on major social media platforms, a policy now under consideration in more than a dozen countries and in numerous states. Because social media use is inherently social, the effectiveness of...

We evaluate the Education Maintenance Allowance, a large conditional cash transfer scheme that paid low-income teenagers in England to remain in education beyond age 16. Using the staggered national roll-out of the programme and linked administrative data tracking education, earnings, welfare...

Platformisation and the growing adoption of AI-driven systems have intensified pervasive data extraction and appropriation that bring distinct harms for both individuals and societies at large. Yet, little is known about how distinct harm perceptions shape citizens' preferences for different...

This study examines the career aspirations of economically disadvantaged Filipino children participating in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the Philippines' flagship conditional cash transfer program. Using data from 9,958 children aged 10 to 25 collected through the Fourth Wave...

This research addresses two key challenges in cultural tourism. First, youths aged 18-25 show limited interest in cultural tourism due to outdated presentation methods and cultural products. Second, there is insufficient understanding of how to create culturally authentic products for youths...

Do high-stakes exams widen gender gaps in academic performance? We study this question in early adolescence using Italy's lower-secondary exit exam. A 2017 reform removed the national standardized test from the final grade while preserving the requirement to take the same test, reducing stakes...

This study examines the state of decent work in the West Bank, focusing on the intersection of labor market conditions, gender disparities, and the fragility of legal enforcement. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines labor force surveys, qualitative interviews, and institutional...

Despite making up a relatively low share of the population, adolescents account for a disproportionately high incidence of registered offenders. An innovative empirical approach finds causal evidence that a reform of citizenship law has a significant impact on reducing youth crime. Birthright...

Global reports suggest a decline in social connection, trust and wellbeing may be occurring for young people. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, this study investigates the relationship between social capital and subjective wellbeing among...

Discrimination, defined as the unfair treatment of groups based on intrinsic characteristics, has pervasive and long-lasting consequences for the individuals who experience it. Previous research has found that individuals who experience discrimination have worsened physical and mental health...

This paper investigates child poverty in Germany through a multidimensional lens, combining Sen’s Capability Approach and Bourdieu’s Capital Theory to develop a adapted Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for children above 11 and youth aged 17. Drawing on data from the German...

This paper examines peer mental health's influence on adolescents' wellbeing, academic performance, and behavior. Using friends-of-friends as an instrument, I find that a one standard deviation increase in friends' mental unwellness is associated with a 0.67 standard deviation increase in one's...