Active Labour Market Policies Research Articles

A Measure That Really Works? Impact Evaluation of the Contribution for Self-Employment as a Tool of Active Labour Market Policy in Slovakia

Unemployment presents a significant challenge requiring attention not only in developing countries but also in economically developed ones. Active labour market policies offer a potential solution to address this issue. This study focuses on assessing the impact of the intervention called Contribution for Self-employment provided under the Act on Employment Services No. 5/2004 Coll in the Slovak Republic. This financial support is extended voluntarily to unemployed individuals seeking jobs and aims to partially defray the expenses associated with launching business ventures. The primary objective of this research is to quantify the effectiveness of the Contribution for Self-employment in enhancing the employment of its recipients, thereby gauging its efficacy in reducing unemployment. The evaluation employs a counterfactual impact assessment methodology, utilising propensity score matching for analysis, with propensity score estimated by the logistic regression. Data from the registry of jobseekers maintained by the Central Labour Office of Social Affairs and Family in Slovakia are utilised in this analysis. This study’s findings indicate a favourable impact of the contribution on the employment of its participants compared to the comparable non-participants. Consequently, this intervention emerges as a viable mechanism for supporting entrepreneurship and mitigating unemployment in Slovakia.

Precariat women’s experiences to undertake an entrepreneurial training program

Women aged over 50 in Australia are becoming increasingly reliant on long-term welfare. Individual characteristics, societal norms, industry practices, and government policy create a multi-factorial, precariat population who have difficulties finding consistent, meaningful employment, live in financial distress, and have poor self-efficacy and mental health. Globally, entrepreneurial intervention programs are touted as an active labor market policy solution, helping people out of welfare into self-employment, and contributing to economic growth. While women and the long-term unemployed tend to struggle in such programs, in comparison, older participants thrive. The study aimed to identify the main factors that shape precariat women’s experiences in undertaking entrepreneurial intervention programs. Interview data collected longitudinally from 39 precariat women revealed four salient themes: the need for achievement as a motivator; self-efficacy and confidence; the negative impact of losing welfare assistance; and the beneficial impact of education and upskilling training. We discuss implications for research and policy.

Active labour market policies in emerging adulthood may act as a protective factor against future depressiveness: an analysis of the long-term trajectories of depressive symptoms in the Northern Swedish Cohort.

Drawing upon the framework of life course epidemiology, this study aligns with research on the mental health consequences of significant social transitions during early adulthood. The focus is on the variation in initial labour market attachment and the development of depressiveness, assuming that a firm attachment is associated with decreasing depressiveness. The baseline investigation of the studied cohort (n = 1,001) took place during their final year of compulsory schooling at age 16. Follow-up surveys were conducted at ages 18, 21, 30, and 43. Depressiveness was measured with a five-item score. Multiple trajectory analysis, incorporating five labour market statuses observed over seven half-year periods from ages 18 to 21, was employed to categorize the cohort into six distinct groups. Among these, 'All-time education,' 'From education to employment,' 'Education and employment,' and 'From employment to education' were considered to demonstrate firm labour market attachment. Meanwhile, 'Active labour market policy' and 'Unemployment' represented less firm attachment. The trajectory of depressive symptoms among the total cohort from age 16 to age 43 exhibited a 'broken stick' pattern, reaching its lowest point at age 21. This pattern was evident in all groups classified as having a firm attachment. A substantial decrease in depressiveness was also observed in the relatively weakly attached 'Active labour market policy' group, whereas no 'broken stick' pattern emerged in the 'Unemployment' group. The disparities in the levels of depressiveness observed at age 21 remained relatively stable across the measurements at ages 30 and 43. The results were as expected, except for the observed improvement in mental health within the 'Active labour market policy' group. Supported labour market attachment during emerging adulthood can enhance mental well-being similarly to regular mainstream attachment. In terms of policy recommendations, the consistently high levels of depressiveness within the 'Unemployment' group underscore the importance of reducing long-term and repeated unemployment in young age. The findings regarding the 'Active labour market policy' provide evidence of the intervention's benefits. While the primary goal of these measures is to create jobs for the unemployed, they also include elements that contribute to participants' mental health.

The politics of piloting. The case of minimum income schemes in European cities

AbstractEU member states have adopted Minimum Income Schemes (MIS) to prevent destitution and ensure a minimum standard of living through means‐tested income support combined with Active Labor Market Policies (ALMPs). However, the effectiveness of MIS has been hindered by limited coverage, low take‐up rates, inadequate cash transfers, strict conditionalities, and the limited impact of ALMPs. Public opinion is polarized, leading to potential policy changes. Pilot projects have emerged as a strategy to address implementation barriers, facilitate evidence‐based policy making, and improve stakeholder relationships. This paper investigates the political conditions under which pilots are promoted and the effects these policy decisions have on scaling up through a qualitative analysis and comparison, using two exemplary cases—B‐MINCOME in Barcelona and Weten Wat Werkt in Utrecht.

Labor Market Reforms and Youth Unemployment

Purpose: The general purpose of the study was to examine labor market reforms and youth employment.
 Methodology: The study adopted a desktop research methodology. Desk research refers to secondary data or that which can be collected without fieldwork. Desk research is basically involved in collecting data from existing resources hence it is often considered a low cost technique as compared to field research, as the main cost is involved in executive’s time, telephone charges and directories. Thus, the study relied on already published studies, reports and statistics. This secondary data was easily accessed through the online journals and library.
 Findings: The findings reveal that there exists a contextual and methodological gap relating to labor market reforms and youth employment. The study illuminated the intricate relationship between labor market reforms and youth unemployment, revealing both opportunities and challenges in tackling this issue. Analyzing empirical evidence from various studies provided insights into the effectiveness of different reform measures across different contexts. While some reforms, such as flexibility promotion and investment in human capital, showed promise in enhancing youth employment, others had mixed results. Future research directions include exploring interactions between labor reforms and macroeconomic factors and conducting longitudinal studies. Overall, the study emphasized the importance of nuanced reform approaches for inclusive economic growth, requiring collaboration among stakeholders and ongoing research for evidence-based policymaking.
 Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The Dual Labor Market theory, Human Capital theory and the Institutional theory may be used to anchor future studies on labor market reforms and youth unemployment. The study provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to address the challenges identified. These recommendations included adopting a multifaceted approach to labor market reforms, prioritizing investments in education and skills development, and fostering collaboration between stakeholders. The study emphasized the importance of active labor market policies (ALMPs), continuous monitoring and evaluation of reforms, and addressing structural barriers to youth employment. Additionally, policymakers were urged to prioritize youth entrepreneurship, enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing, and promote inclusive decision-making processes. Overall, the study offered practical strategies for policymakers, contributed to theory by highlighting the importance of evidence-based policymaking and stakeholder engagement, and informed future policy efforts to tackle youth unemployment effectively.
 Keywords: Labor Market, Reforms, Youth, Unemployment, Employment Policies, Economic Policy, Labor Force Participation

The Interactions between Labour Market Policies and Income Inequalities in Groups of European Union Countries

Social cohesion and a sustainable labour market remain the aims of sustainable development policy. However, income inequalities and labour market policies are more often separately analysed. To fill the identified research gap, our article presents the results of an analysis of interactions between active and passive labour market policies and income inequalities in the European Union. The 27 countries were divided into two clusters based on their active and passive labour market policy (LMP) expenditures in 2019. These clusters sustain the basis for analysing the interactions between LMP and income inequalities in its different measures. The results reveal that labour market interventions interact with income inequalities, decreasing disposable income inequalities (equalising the disposable income after transfers and taxes) and therefore contributing to social cohesion. This paper concerns social cohesion as the manifestation of intragenerational justice.

Do social investment policies promote employment among the vulnerable? A case of single mothers

PurposeThis study aims to investigate whether social investment (SI) policies improve employment among single mothers.Design/methodology/approachThis paper analyzes the potential effects of SI policies on vulnerable individuals and workers at the macro level by using the employment position of single mothers as a dependent variable. Time-series cross-national data from 18 OECD countries between 1998 and 2017 are analyzed. Multilevel model analysis is also used for robustness check.FindingsI find that public spending on education and family support is positively associated with the employment rates of single mothers. In contrast, active labor market policy (ALMP) spending is negatively associated. ALMP’s negative effects stand out particularly with public spending on job training. Of all family support policies, family allowances are positively associated with single mothers’ employment, which runs counter to the conventional argument that family allowances are a disincentive for women’s or mothers’ employment. Paid leave (length and generosity) is also associated with higher employment for single mothers. There is also some tentative evidence that public spending on maternity leave benefits (spending level) may raise the odds of single mothers being employed, when individual-level factors are controlled for in multilevel analysis we implement for robustness check.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper does not analyze the effects of the qualitative properties of SI policies. Future research is necessary in this respect.Originality/valueThe effects of SI policies on employment among single mothers have not yet been examined in the literature. This paper seeks to be a first cut at measuring the effects.

Three pillars of just transition labour market policies

ABSTRACT In academia, just transition has received increasing interest, including the topical research on sustainable welfare states and integrative ecosocial policies. However, an analytical perspective of labour market policy has been surprisingly weak and studies associating just transition with labour security considerations in welfare states are lacking. By inductively synthesising labour-related just transition literature, this review identifies three intertwined approaches to labour market policies: green jobs approach, green skills approach, and green compensation approach. Respectively, they chime with three forms of labour security in terms of employment opportunities, skill reproduction, and income security. We argue that these three forms of labour security constitute three pillars of just transition labour market policies. Addressing three pillars in a holistic fashion is highlighted given that currently they are unbalanced in just transition discussion. Additionally, a critical reflection on the role of economic growth in labour market policymaking is advocated considering it is the labour security that unifies all three pillars. To steer the labour markets toward a greener future, more studies could focus on redefining green jobs, repurposing active labour market policy, and tackling work-welfare nexus from an ecosocial perspective. Exploring the potential of job guarantee for promoting labour security without growth is worthwhile.

From segmentalist to liberal skill formation system: A comparative analysis of labour market activation policies in Japan and South Korea

Abstract This study provides a comparative analysis of the evolution of skill formation systems in Japan and South Korea, considering the nuances in active labour market policies (ALMPs) and institutional transformations in the post-industrial landscape. Both nations initially adopted segmentalist skill formation systems; however, they now exhibit divergent paths. Korea, in particular, has undergone institutional changes from segmentalist to a liberal skill formation system, with firms reducing their involvement in skill formation, resulting in a pronounced skill formation gap. Firms have curtailed their role in skill formation in alignment with environmental changes, and ALMPs have primarily centred on job creation for the elderly and small- and medium-sized enterprise employment subsidies. Conversely, Japan has maintained consistent policy approaches despite similar environmental changes. This study highlights that these divergent trajectories are rooted in the different stages of institutional maturity established during industrialization.

Labor Market Institutions and Employment

The role of labor market institutions and policies has received great attention throughout the history of labor economics. Labor market institutions are responsible for a wide range of policies, regulations, and organizations that affect the labor market, though their impact on employment can vary depending on the specific institutions and the economic context across countries. This entry attempts to provide an overview of five main labor market institutions and policies, i.e., the minimum wage, employment protection, the power of unions, active labor market policies, and unemployment insurance/unemployment benefits. It also presents theoretical expectations of their effects on employment outcomes and collates relevant results from the related literature, focusing mainly on the most recent empirical evidence. Finally, this entry provides insights regarding labor market institutions and offers proposals for shaping the labor market landscape.

Active Labour Market Policies and Youth Employment in European Peripheries

This thematic issue discusses the design, implementation, and impact of youth-oriented active labour market policies in Europe, with a particular emphasis on its peripheries. The need to address territorialised, youth-oriented active labour market policies is pressing for several reasons. For one, the whole socioeconomic paradigm is undergoing fundamental changes due to the dual transition (digital and green) that is expected to have an impact on the rural/urban divide. Moreover, at the subnational level, youth unemployment in certain regions is a more pressing problem than suggested by existing studies, which have mostly focused on the national level. This implies that closer inspection of the subnational level, in general, and the peripheral regions, in particular, will reveal more marked cross-national differences. This thematic issue offers a point of departure for the suggested territorialised approach to the study of how active labour market policies for young people are formulated and implemented, and which effects they have on their target groups.

Active Labour Market Policies for Rural NEETs in Lithuania: A Case of Rural Municipalities

This article aims to analyse active labour market policy efficiency for rural young NEETs integration into the labour market in the socioeconomic context of rural municipalities in Lithuania. For the empirical analysis, the administrative data of the public employment service concerning active labour market policy measures, e.g., training and mobility support, subsidised employment, and support for establishing or adapting workplaces of 2018 and 2022, as well as Lithuanian statistics data of 2018 and 2020 are used. The socio-economic environment of rural municipalities was analysed using the economic indicators (complex index), public transport accessibility, average wage, and free vacancies indicators. The recipient’s integration into employment after six months of participation in active labour market policy measures is analysed. The data revealed poor economic indicators, undeveloped public transport, lower average salaries, and a need for more vacancies in rural municipalities. The integration into employment fell significantly in two rural municipality clusters after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Impact of Multilevel Governmental Policy on Rural Catalonia: Voices From the Grassroots

One decade on from the launch of the European Youth Guarantee Initiative, there is still limited research into its efficacy in rural areas. In Spain, a country with significant urban-rural disparity, the complexity of the governmental structure across the country has made investigations into the effectiveness of youth employment strategies less common as compared with other European states. Our study analyses the meso-level structure of the Spanish government and how the Public Employment Services (PES) factor into the overall process of disseminating active labour market policies across the country. The study is based in the autonomous community of Catalonia and includes a case study in the region of Lleida. Through open-ended interviews with members at different levels of the local PES, including the director and various other staff, as well as with local policymakers, youth workers in local organisations, and the youth themselves, we aim to shed light on how the Youth Guarantee is being implemented on the ground. This will take into account the structural constraints, needs, and challenges under the new law as expressed by the various stakeholders. The results indicate that both youth and local PES are negatively impacted by some centralised aspects of employment policy, such as the stringent requirements for training courses that prove prohibitive for rural areas, as well as the urban-centric design of training courses. Further, the youth collectively express a strong desire for their voice to find expression in the design of active labour market policies.

Quantity over quality? How economic factors and welfare state interventions affected job insecurity and job quality before, during and after the economic crises

AbstractThis article uses multilevel analysis of 24 European countries to examine the effects of macroeconomic variables (GDP and unemployment) and welfare state interventions (active and passive labour market policies) on job insecurity and job quality in Europe from the mid‐1990s until the last 2021 COVID crisis. The paper makes a distinction between the crisis of the welfare state and the reaction of welfare states to crises and connects the job quality literature with that on the transformation of the welfare state. The article introduces several innovations to the literature by looking at the impact of welfare state interventions on multidimensional job quality, distinguishing between different types of active labour market policy spending and considering the generosity of benefits. The findings show that active labour market policies (ALMPs) and passive labour market policies (PLMPs) have a positive effect in reducing job insecurity across skill groups. ALMPs and PLMPs also improved several dimensions of job quality, but mostly among manual/low‐skilled workers, while they have a negative effect on work pressure which mostly affects medium‐ and high‐skilled workers. The article concludes by discussing how, due to the reach of ALMP and PLMP interventions, the positive effects of the welfare state on job quality are concentrated among lower‐skilled workers, thereby limiting the ambition of contemporary welfare states to generate positive spillover effects on the quality of work for all workers.

Mapping new colour lines – border studies within a workfare state

ABSTRACT This article argues that the invention of the European Union (EU) common market and the lifting of national border controls produced a mobility-control vacuum within the EU and its member states. Building on ethnographic research in the German city of Munich and symptomatic policy-paper analysis (2013–2021), it traces the emergence of a new policy field that targets ‘poverty migration’ and ‘benefit fraud’ in this vacuum. This internal border work builds on transformations of the German social system from an ethos of welfare to active labour-market policy. With the classical toolbox of national migration regimes no longer working for intra-EU movers, their mobility rights and right to residence have been increasingly restricted by making economic self-reliance a conditionality of stay and excluding those not engaged in wage labour or self-employment from welfare services. Social policy is used as a tool for controlling mobility, which we refer to as ‘workfare-state borders.' This is because it reinforces the radicalization of the workfare state by either pushing the racialized and migrantized poor into precarious wage labor or depriving them of social protection. This internal border work reconnects meritocratic logics with classical articulations of racism, thus contributing to the finely tuned reinvention of a racial order in Europe.

Social expenditure composition, inequality and growth in the OECD: Labour market policies are most effective

The literature on public social expenditure envisages a role for the composition of public social expenditure in the design of policies to reduce inequality and promote economic growth. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on which to ground social policy decisions. This study contributes to filling this gap by investigating the dynamic interdependencies between nine different categories of social spending, inequality and growth in 36 OECD countries over the period 1995–2017. According to the results of our work, based on a PVAR model, achieving a decrease in inequality without decreasing output growth is possible, requiring a change in the composition of social policy that gives more weight to spending on old age and survivors’ pensions, incapacity and family benefits, and active labour market policies, the latter having also a positive impact on growth. On the contrary, social expenditure on housing, as it has been conducted, appears to harm growth and enhance inequality.

Comparing Innovative ‘Chosen Training’ with ‘Standard Training’ in Czechia: How Did the New Program Help?

This paper evaluates the active labour market policy instrument called ‘chosen training’ (in Czech zvolené rekvalifikace), introduced to the Czech labour market policy in 2012. This new instrument allows the registered unemployed much more freedom to choose their supposed future career path by selecting the preferred profession for training and preferred training provider than traditional standard training programs. The added value of this paper is in the intentional linking of the provision of new measures with the assessment of impacts. The methodology of this text is based on quantitative program assessment. We used PES administrative data OK Práce for programmes implemented in 2016 and tracked the outcomes for 2016-2020. We compare a new instrument with more traditional training programs that continue to be provided alongside the new tool. We concluded that chosen training provided better results than standard training, and we addressed some of the reasons behind the perceived difference.

사회안전망이 혁신저항에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study is to analyze whether the social security system can alleviate the resistance of workers in existing industries in a situation where resistance is increasing as technological innovation occurs in all industries. In particular, we will focus on looking at labor market policies such as retirement income security systems such as ‘pensions’ and ‘unemployment benefits and vocational training’ that are directly related to the lives of workers in existing industries that have declined due to technological innovation and new growth industries. For the analysis, 17 major industrially advanced OECD countries were set as the analysis target, and the analysis period was set from 2000 to 2021, when globalization, digitalization, and resistance to technological innovation resulting from the Fourth Industrial Revolution began in earnest, and panel data was constructed. did. As an analysis method, in addition to the existing panel regression analysis, fuzzy set analysis was performed to complement the limitations of regression analysis. As a result of the regression analysis, it was found that passive labor market policies centered on unemployment benefits alleviated resistance. As a result of the fuzzy set combined factor analysis, it was revealed that a high level of active labor market policy is still needed, and that a passive labor market policy with a short period but strong guarantees and a flexible labor market environment are needed.

Active Labour Market Policies: What Works for the Long-Term Unemployed?

Abstract There is still a lack of knowledge on how to effectively help the long-term unemployed into employment. We evaluate a wide range of active labour market policies for this target group, using a dynamic matching approach. Measures vary considerably in the extent to which they improve labour market prospects. Human capital-intensive training programs that substantially enhance vocational skills and employment programs are most effective, short activating job search training the least. Our results suggest that not only wage subsidies in the private sector, but also direct job creation in the public and non-profit sectors can work, if properly designed.

(in) Accuracy in Algorithmic Profiling of the Unemployed – An Exploratory Review of Reporting Standards

Public Employment Services (PES) increasingly use automated statistical profiling algorithms (ASPAs) to ration expensive active labour market policy (ALMP) interventions to those they predict at risk of becoming long-term unemployed (LTU). Strikingly, despite the critical role played by ASPAs in the operation of public policy, we know very little about how the technology works, particularly how accurate predictions from ASPAs are. As a vital first step in assessing the operational effectiveness and social impact of ASPAs, we review the method of reporting accuracy. We demonstrate that the current method of reporting a single measure for accuracy (usually a percentage) inflates the capabilities of the technology in a peculiar way. ASPAs tend towards high false positive rates, and so falsely identify those who prove to be frictionally unemployed as likely to be LTU. This has important implications for the effectiveness of spending on ALMPs.