Automation risk and support for welfare policies: how does the threat of unemployment affect demanding active labour market policy support?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Zhen Jie Im
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Unemployment Risk ◽  
The Impact

Abstract How does unemployment risk affect workers’ support for demanding active labour market policies (ALMPs)? There may be a substantial number of workers who experience unemployment risk from labour market disruptions. Yet, we know less about its impact on demanding ALMP support than the impact of unemployment status. Here, I explore the impact of unemployment risk through automation. Automation-threatened workers’ support for demanding ALMPs may be influenced by two opposing considerations that are linked to their potential reliance on welfare. First, they may worry about barriers to welfare access. Second, they may worry about welfare competition, especially under austerity. Their support for demanding ALMPs would hence depend on which consideration they find to be most salient. Based on the European Social Survey (2016) data on West European countries, I find that automation-threatened workers significantly support such policies. This may indicate that they find welfare competition concerns more salient than welfare access ones.

The impact of Active Labour Market Policies on health outcomes: a Scoping review

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Puig-Barrachina ◽  
Pol Giró ◽  
Lucía Artazcoz ◽  
Xavier Bartoll ◽  
Imma Cortés-Franch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The Impact

An evaluation of German active labour market policies: a review of the empirical evidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 377-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moritz Zoellner ◽  
Michael Fritsch ◽  
Michael Wyrwich
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Cost Efficiency ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Future Challenges

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review the results of studies that investigate the most important active labour market policy (ALMP) measures in Germany. A focus is also on programmes devoted to foster entrepreneurship which can make important contributions to a country’s growth and social welfare.Design/methodology/approachThe study relies on quantitative and qualitative assessments and a comparison of results of previous studies on ALMPs.FindingsThe available evidence suggests that most ALMP measures increase labour market prospects of the participants. In particular, evaluations of the entrepreneurship promotion activities show high success rates as well as high cost efficiency. The bulk share of participants of entrepreneurship measures is still self-employed after several years and nearly one-third of these businesses had at least one employee. The authors mention problems regarding the evaluation of previous programmes and highlight future challenges of German ALMP.Originality/valueThis is the first study on ALMP that has an extensive and explicit focus on entrepreneurship-promoting programs.

scholarly journals Levelling the playing field? Active labour market policies, educational attainment and unemployment

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 276-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luc Benda ◽  
Ferry Koster ◽  
Romke J. van der Veen
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The Social ◽  
Unemployment Risk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Job Competition

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how active labour market policy (ALMP) training programmes and hiring subsidies increase or decrease differences in the unemployment risk between lesser and higher educated people during an economic downturn. A focus is put on potential job competition dynamics and cumulative (dis)advantages of the lesser and higher educated. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses multi-level data. The fifth wave (2010) of the European Social Survey was used and combined with macro-level data on labour market policies of the OECD. The sample consisted of 18,172 observations in 19 countries. Findings The results show that higher levels of participation and spending on training policies are related to a smaller difference in the unemployment risks of the educational groups. Higher training policy intensity is associated with a lower unemployment risk for the lesser educated and a higher unemployment risk for the higher educated. This implies that the lesser educated are better able to withstand downward pressure from the higher educated, thereby, reducing downward displacement during an economic downturn. Hiring subsidies do not seem to be associated with the impact of education on unemployment. Originality/value The paper adds to the discussion on ALMP training and hiring subsidies that are primarily rooted in the human capital theory and signalling theory. Both theories ignore the social context of labour market behaviour. The job competition theory and cumulative (dis)advantage theory add to these theories by focussing on the relative position of individuals and the characteristics that accompany the social position of the individual.

scholarly journals Activation is not a panacea: active labour market policy, long-term unemployment and institutional complementarity

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
LUC BENDA ◽  
FERRY KOSTER ◽  
ROMKE VAN DER VEEN
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Employment Protection ◽  
Unemployment Benefit ◽  
Labour Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Market Policy ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour

AbstractEvaluation studies of active labour market policy show different activation measures generate contradictory results. In the present study, we argue that these contradictory results are due to the fact that the outcomes of activation measures depend on other institutions. The outcome measure in this study is the long-term unemployment rate. Two labour market institutions are of special interest in this context: namely, employment protection and unemployment benefits. Both institutions, depending on their design, may either increase or decrease the effectiveness of active labour market policies in lowering long-term unemployment. Based on an analysis of macro-level data on 20 countries over a period of 16 years, our results show that employment protection strictness and unemployment benefit generosity interact with the way in which active labour market policies relate to long-term unemployment. Our results also indicate that, depending on the measure used, active labour market policies fit either in a flexible or in a coordinated labour market. This suggests that active labour market policies can adhere to both institutional logics, which are encapsulated in different types of measures.

scholarly journals The efficiency of Active Labour Market Policies in the European Union: Does it make sense increasing the bill?

2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-357
Author(s):  
Juan González Alegre
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Public Expenditure ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Explanatory Variables ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Social Fund ◽  
The Impact

This paper evaluates the efficiency of Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) in the European Union (EU). The paper first reviews the main trends governing the evolution of the European Social Fund (ESF) since its creation. The ESF promotes public expenditure in ALMPs in order to foster social cohesion across the EU. In order to test to what extent this strategy can be backed up by facts, we estimate the impact of public expenditure on ALMPs on the employment rate using panel data from 28 European countries (1985–2011), taking into account the endogeneity of the explanatory variables and the dynamic behaviour of their relationship. Results support the hypothesis that expenditure in ALMPs is more beneficial for employment than aggregate public expenditure. In addition, we show that periphery countries observe a larger efficiency of their ALMPs. These results support the recent policy strategy undertaken by the European Commission to raise the budget devoted to ESF in Member States experiencing higher unemployment rates.

scholarly journals Mixing apples with oranges? Partisanship and active labour market policies in Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Vlandas
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Job Creation ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
Training Schemes ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
The Impact

There are competing theoretical expectations and conflicting empirical results concerning the impact of partisanship on spending on active labour market policies (ALMPs). This paper argues that one should distinguish between different ALMPs. Employment incentives and rehabilitation programmes incentivize the unemployed to accept jobs. Direct job creation reduces the supply of labour by creating non-commercial jobs. Training schemes raise the human capital of the unemployed. Using regression analysis this paper shows that the positions of political parties towards these three types of ALMPs are different. Party preferences also depend on the welfare regime in which parties are located. In Scandinavia, left-wing parties support neither employment incentives nor direct job creation schemes. In continental and Liberal welfare regimes, left-wing parties oppose employment incentives and rehabilitation programmes to a lesser extent and they support direct job creation. There is no impact of partisanship on training. These results reconcile the previously contradictory findings concerning the impact of the Left on ALMPs.

scholarly journals Assessment of the net effect of the active labour market policy in Bulgaria

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-290
Author(s):  
Atanas Atanassov ◽  
Silvia Trifonova
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The State ◽  
Labour Market Policy ◽  
Working Capacity ◽  
Active Labour Market Policy ◽  
Market Policy ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The Impact

The assessment of the net effect of active labour market policy contributes to the effective use of public funds in order to achieve optimal results and provide opportunities for future changes in the priority areas of the employment action plans. The paper examines the basic concepts for assessing the net effect of active labour market policy and assesses the net effect of this policy in Bulgaria. In the process of assessing the impact of active labour market policy at the individual level for each program and measure included in the National Employment Action Plan in 2015 and funded from the state budget, the gross effect, deadweight effect, the substitution and displacement effects are estimated. The quasi-experimental design method is applied to assess the net effect of programs and measures on the labour market in Bulgaria. The estimation results demonstrate that the total net effect has the value of 14.5%. The net effect for women is significantly higher than for men. Regarding education, the highest net effect can be seen among those with primary or no education Regarding age, the highest net effect is observed among young people up to 24 years of age. As related to the duration of unemployment, the highest net effect can be seen among long-term unemployed people (over 24 months). In terms of working capacity, the highest net effect is observed among people with reduced working capacity. Regarding the type of settlement, the highest net effect can be seen in rural areas. The paper provides a number of conclusions and recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of active labour market policy and for improving the state of the labour market in Bulgaria. The analysis shows that in Bulgaria it is necessary to maintain the variety of different programs and measures on the labour market, covering different target groups.

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