School-to-work transitions and youth labour market dynamics
Congrats to Bartlomiej Kudrzycki for his doctoral defence on youth labour market dynamics in informal economies.
Rising youth populations and stagnant formal sector growth in many African countries are major obstacles to youth employment prospects. Faced with limited job opportunities, young job seekers are at a disadvantage in securing employment due to their limited work experience and difficulties in effectively signaling their skills to potential employers. Many governments and international organizations are therefore placing great hope in the development and expansion of vocational training programs.
Bartlomiej Kudrzycki's research advances our understanding of the mechanisms that drive the school-to-work transition in poor informal labor markets and the effectiveness of dual vocational training for youth.
Bartlomiej worked with researchers from the University of Abomey-Calavi, the Institut National de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Économique (INSAE), and local artisan experts and practitioners to collect data on youth earnings, employment histories, and labor market activities in Cotonou, Benin, to find answers to these highly policy-relevant and under-researched questions.