Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
•We are among the first to study a vocational training program in a low-income country.•We find large effects of trainees taking up informal non-farm employment.•Impacts are mainly driven by female self-employment inside (but not outside) the house.•Low baseline educational attainment and restrictive gender roles for females in Nepal may explain our large program effects.•We suggest that effect channels differ markedly from similar interventions in high and middle-income countries.