Paying for Training to Make Training Pay Off: Evidence From France

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the impact of increased financial compensation during training on jobseekers' labor market outcomes. We exploit a reform implemented in France in May 2021 that raised training allowances exclusively for non‐recipients of unemployment benefits. Using administrative longitudinal data, we compare the trajectories of trainees affected and unaffected by the reform. Our empirical strategy combines a synthetic triple‐difference estimator with an event‐study framework. We find no evidence that the reform increased employment rates within 24 months of training entry, but it did enhance job quality, improving both stability and alignment with the training field.