Should Human Capital Development Programs Be Voluntary or Mandatory? Evidence from a Field Experiment

By: Jason Sandvik, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert and Christopher Stanton

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:72

Abstract

In a field experiment, we find large differences in productivity treatment effects between voluntary and mandatory workplace mentorship programs. A significant portion of this difference is due to the best employees opting into the program when it is voluntary and these employees having the smallest treatment effects. Our findings suggest that pilot programs run on a voluntary group may obfuscate large potential gains. In our setting, the firm cannot rely on self-selection to help with program allocation because employees that benefit the most from the program are the least likely to participate. Our findings have implications for program evaluation, experimental design, productivity dispersion, and inequality.

Keywords

Mentoring; Mentorship Programs; Randomized Controlled Trial; Employees; Relationships; Programs; Performance

Citation

Sandvik, Jason, Richard Saouma, Nathan Seegert, and Christopher Stanton. "Should Human Capital Development Programs Be Voluntary or Mandatory? Evidence from a Field Experiment." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29148, August 2021. (Minor Revise and Resubmit at Management Science.)