@article{b2d4a29e1fbf4d21998421e8cdedf447,
title = "Going the distance: Hybrid vocational training for women in Nepal",
abstract = "We test whether access to a hybrid distance learning program can expand professional training opportunities where women's labor force participation is low. Qualified women were randomly selected to train as community animal health workers through either a traditional training course requiring 35 consecutive days away from home or a distance learning course requiring two shorter stays plus a tablet-based home curriculum. Distance learning increases training completion rates from 30% to 51%. Distance learning trainees are at least as knowledgeable and skilled as their traditionally trained counterparts, with similar labor force participation and long-run job performance.",
keywords = "Labor force participation, Nepal, Women, vocational training",
author = "Sarah Janzen and Nicholas Magnan and Conner Mullally and Shruti Sharma and Bhola Shrestha",
note = "Janzen, Magnan, and Mullally share senior authorship. Sarah Janzen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Nicholas Magnan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at Colorado State University. Conner Mullally is an Associate Professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. Shruti Sharma was a Ph.D. student in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics at the University of Georgia and is an analyst at US Bank. Bhola Shrestha is Technical Director at Heifer International Nepal. The authors would like to thank Heifer Project International Nepal for project implementation, Ben Wood at Heifer International for project support, and Sudhindra Sharma and Interdisciplinary Analysts for leading collection of survey data. Catalina Herrera Almanza, Jared Gars, Marieke Kleemans, and Hope Michelson provided useful feedback on an earlier draft. We thank editor Tom Vogl and three anonymous referees for comments that improved the paper. This work was funded in whole or part by the United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Resilience and Food Security under Agreement#AID-OAA-L-15-00003 as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. Additional funding was received from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States OPP#1175487. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors alone. The trial and pre-analysis plan for this work are registered through the American Economics Association's (AEA) RCT Registry (RCT ID: AEARCTR-0006363) and is available at https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/6363. This research was approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board, protocol IRB201602316. Janzen, Magnan, and Mullally share senior authorship. Sarah Janzen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. Nicholas Magnan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics at Colorado State University. Conner Mullally is an Associate Professor in the Food and Resource Economics Department at the University of Florida. Shruti Sharma was a Ph.D. student in the Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics at the University of Georgia and is an analyst at US Bank. Bhola Shrestha is Technical Director at Heifer International Nepal. The authors would like to thank Heifer Project International Nepal for project implementation, Ben Wood at Heifer International for project support, and Sudhindra Sharma and Interdisciplinary Analysts for leading collection of survey data. Catalina Herrera Almanza, Jared Gars, Marieke Kleemans, and Hope Michelson provided useful feedback on an earlier draft. We thank editor Tom Vogl and three anonymous referees for comments that improved the paper. This work was funded in whole or part by the United States Agency for International Development Bureau for Resilience and Food Security under Agreement #AID-OAA-L-15-00003 as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. Additional funding was received from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation OPP#1175487 . Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed here are those of the authors alone. The trial and pre-analysis plan for this work are registered through the American Economics Association\u2019s (AEA) RCT Registry (RCT ID: AEARCTR-0006363) and is available at https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/6363 . This research was approved by the University of Florida Institutional Review Board, protocol IRB201602316.",
year = "2025",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103414",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "174",
journal = "Journal of Development Economics",
issn = "0304-3878",
publisher = "Elsevier B.V.",
}