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The impact of job training on temporary worker performance: Field experimental evidence from insurance sales agents
Author(s) -
Lyons Elizabeth
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of economics and management strategy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.672
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1530-9134
pISSN - 1058-6407
DOI - 10.1111/jems.12333
Subject(s) - incentive , business , labour economics , training (meteorology) , revenue , work (physics) , investment (military) , job training , on the job training , demographic economics , economics , finance , microeconomics , mechanical engineering , physics , internship , politics , meteorology , political science , law , engineering , economic growth , vocational education
Abstract Despite the limited incentives they provide for idiosyncratic investment, temporary work arrangements are becoming increasingly common. Using evidence from a field experiment conducted among salespeople in a Kenyan insurance firm, this paper examines the consequences of providing job training for temporary workers. The findings show that providing access to training significantly increases firm revenue, primarily due to performance increases among higher‐ability workers. The findings from the study are consistent with temporary workers willingness to invest in job training when the job‐specific returns from doing so are sufficiently high.