Evaluation of the Australian Wage Subsidy Special Youth ...

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2.3.1 Stretton (1982, 1984) 53
Stretton (1984) used survey data of participants in 5 programmes collected in November
1981, where the 5 programmes were EPUY, GTA on-the job and 3 types of SYETP-
Commonwealth, private, and second serve. The survey took place about 6 months after
programme participation, was of a sample of 1500 participants who completed,
terminated or withdrew from the placement in April/May 1981 and had a response rate of
63 per cent with 945 cases for analysis. Stretton (1984) himself pointed out that he did
not have a comparison group, and that the possibility of selection bias existed with regard
to modelling employment, and non-response bias might be present. An analysis of nonresponse
was made using the administrative data for the sample. It was found that
younger persons, females and programme completers were more likely to respond.
Participation in one programme was compared to participation in another programme, by
including a set of programme dummies. Employment (two-types: full or part-time job at
interview, or any job since programme) was modelled using a logit of labour market
status. The regressions were run with age, continuous age, education (dummy with 1 for
school leaver at 16 years or younger), duration of unemployment prior to programme
entry, programme (EPUY was the base), and state (Tasmania was the base). Positive
coefficients, statistically significant at the one and five per cent level, were present for all
programme dummies, and for SYETP this was true in both employment at interview and
any employment since the programme.
To investigate retention, the same model was run on just the sample of those who were
not retained by their placement employer. No programme dummies were significant. It
was concluded completers not retained in their placement job did no better than those
who did not complete. It was noted that the observed retention rates differed for the
various programmes, with only 60 per cent of GTA retained, 70 per cent of SYETP
private, 70 per cent or SYETP second serve, and 80 per cent of SYETP Commonwealth
(Stretton (1984): 86). Also, less than 5 per cent of SYETP or GTA programme
participants left early (Stretton (1984): 87). Then the employment model was adjusted to
include dummies about completion, the resulting model interpreted as comparing those
53 As the first of these is early findings, only the second is discussed here.