Evaluating the mandatory activation of older unemployed

In order to identify the treatment effect of an active labor market program for older unemployed in Belgium, this paper exploits an age-related and time-related obligation to participate in the program. The program consists of job search assistance, counseling and training. Using a difference-in-differences-matching estimator, we find that the program significantly raised transitions to employment by about 3 to 4 percentage points. As there are some indications that compliance with the obligation to participate is not perfect, the actual treatment effect on the treated possibly is substantially higher.