Evaluating the vocational rehabilitation program using longitudinal data -Evidence for a quasiexperimental research design

The study presents benefit-cost ratios for 14 disability cohorts served by the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Program. The earnings impacts are estima ted in a quasiexperimental framework using an internal comparison group. Th e earnings data are from a unique national panel constructed by linking cli ent data of the Rehabilitative Services Administration with earnings histor ies from the Social Security Administration. These earnings data accommodat e a series of statistical tests that allow us to identify and control for t he presence of selection bias when estimating treatment impacts. The result s indicate that the VR program is cost-effective in general, although not u niversally so across specific disabilities.