YTS, EMPLOYMENT, AND SAMPLE SELECTION BIAS

In this paper, data from the first Youth Cohort Study (YCS) are used t o analyse the effectiveness of the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) in Engl and and Wales in terms of its impact, at an individual level, on the e mployment prospects of young people. The analysis goes beyond previous work in that it explicitly deals with sample selection bias and heter oscedasticity. A switching bivariate probit model is estimated and is found to be preferred to both the univariate probit model and the biva riate probit model with a YTS participation dummy. The analysis sugges ts that previous studies of YTS may have underestimated both the size and variability of the effect that the scheme had on participants' cha nces of finding employment.