Managing Customers’ Training Choices: Findings from the Individual Training Account Experiment - Final Report
Managing Customers’ Training Choices: Findings from the Individual Training Account Experiment - Final Report
Publication Info
Description
The ITA experiment was designed to provide federal, state, and local policymakers and administrators with information on the trade-offs inherent in different approaches to managing customer choice. The experiment tested three approaches and was implemented side-by-side in eight study sites. Nearly 8,000 customers determined eligible for training were randomly assigned to one of the three approaches. The approaches varied along three dimensions: (1) whether the ITA amount was the same for all customers or was determined by the counselor on a customer-by-customer basis; (2) the intensity of counseling and whether it was mandatory; and (3) whether counselors could deny a customer an ITA. A classic experimental design was used to explore how these different approaches affected customers, program staff, and training providers as well as how different approaches generated different training choices, employment and earnings outcomes, and customer satisfaction. It also explores the relative benefits and costs of each approach.