<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Although short message services (SMS) are constantly used to transmit information, little is known about the use of SMS by public institutions to direct people. This paper presents a field experiment in France about the effectiveness of SMS in directing disadvantaged people toward public services. Two types of treatment SMS were provided: one type had its content written in a formal style; the second type SMS style was much informal. All the SMS were individualized and included specific information about the agencies. Results indicate that the SMS had no significant effect on enrollment. There is also no apparent heterogeneous effect according to individual, agency, or location characteristics. In line with other academic evidence, these findings suggest that SMS have very limited effectiveness in directing this population toward public services.</p>
</abstract>

Although short message services (SMS) are constantly used to transmit information, little is known about the use of SMS by public institutions to direct people. This paper presents a field experiment in France about the effectiveness of SMS in directing disadvantaged people toward public services. Two types of treatment SMS were provided: one type had its content written in a formal style; the second type SMS style was much informal. All the SMS were individualized and included specific information about the agencies. Results indicate that the SMS had no significant effect on enrollment. There is also no apparent heterogeneous effect according to individual, agency, or location characteristics. In line with other academic evidence, these findings suggest that SMS have very limited effectiveness in directing this population toward public services.

Directing young dropouts via SMS: evidence from a field experiment

IZA Journal of Labor Policy

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Directing young dropouts via SMS: evidence from a field experiment"}

Although short message services (SMS) are constantly used to transmit information, little is known about the use of SMS by public institutions to direct...

Directing young dropouts via SMS: evidence from a field experiment

Published Online: Feb 21, 2022

Page range: -

Accepted: Jan 11, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2022-0001

Keywords
youth unemployment, information provision, public policy, field experiment

© 2022 Jérémy Hervelin, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Directing young dropouts via SMS: evidence from a field experiment

Published Online: Feb 21, 2022

Page range: -

Accepted: Jan 11, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2022-0001

Keywordsyouth unemployment, information provision, public policy, field experiment

© 2022 Jérémy Hervelin, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
youth unemployment, information provision, public policy, field experiment