The paper is titled: ‘Improving First-generation College Student’s Education & Labour Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation of an Inclusive Policy in India’
3 April, 2024, Bengaluru: Gopinath Annadurai, third-year student of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme of IIM Bangalore, Public Policy area, has been presented with the L K Deshpande Young Labour Economist Award at the 64th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), held at the University of Hyderabad from 29th to 31st March 2024.
The award is in recognition of his paper, co-authored with Prof. Soham Sahoo, titled, ‘Improving First-generation College Student’s Education & Labour Market Outcomes: Impact Evaluation of an Inclusive Policy in India’.
Abstract of paper: First-generation graduates (FGGs), the first in their families to attend college and representing a growing segment in higher education, encounter unique aspirations and challenges. Despite their significance, there has been limited research and policy interventions on FGGs. This study evaluates the First-Generation Graduate Scholarship (FGGS) scheme, launched in 2010 in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which aims to waive tuition fees for FGGs pursuing technical education in engineering, medicine and agriculture at the undergraduate level. The analysis focuses on FGGs aged 17–22 years and assesses the program's impact on professional course enrollment, stream choice and subsequent labour market outcomes. The researchers employ a Difference-in-Differences (DID) model using multiple rounds of the National Sample Survey. The findings reveal a notable 3.6 percentage point increase in professional course enrollment in response to the policy; this effect translates to around 43% increase over the mean enrollment rate in professional courses. The treatment also significantly affects the beneficiaries' stream choice and graduate-degree completion rates in favour of professional courses. Various robustness checks, including synthetic-DID analysis, event studies and placebo tests, affirm the program's effectiveness in promoting enrollment in professional courses. Beyond academic outcomes, the study explores labour market consequences, demonstrating that the policy led to a shift towards service-sector employment among FGGS beneficiaries, accompanied by reduced engagement in agriculture-related work, decreased casual employment and an increased propensity for active job-seeking.