  Lack of skills is arguably one of the most important determinants of high
levels of unemployment and poverty. In response, policymakers often initiate
vocational training programs in effort to enhance skill formation among the
youth. Using a regression-discontinuity design, we examine a large youth
training intervention in Nepal. We find, twelve months after the start of the
training program, that the intervention generated an increase in non-farm
employment of 10 percentage points (ITT estimates) and up to 31 percentage
points for program compliers (LATE estimates). We also detect sizeable gains in
monthly earnings. Women who start self-employment activities inside their homes
largely drive these impacts. We argue that low baseline educational levels and
non-farm employment levels and Nepal's social and cultural norms towards women
drive our large program impacts. Our results suggest that the program enables
otherwise underemployed women to earn an income while staying at home - close
to household errands and in line with the socio-cultural norms that prevent
them from taking up employment outside the house.
