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.

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

scholarly journals New Welfare, New Policies: Towards Preventive Worker-Directed Active Labour-Market Policies

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rik van Berkel ◽  
Paul van der Aa
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The Social ◽  
Labour Market Transitions ◽  
New Policies ◽  
Market Transitions

AbstractDebates about the new welfare, and the new social policies that go (or should go) with it, share an emphasis on risk-prevention strategies and pluralistic risk management. Focusing specifically on the risk of unemployment, this article discusses the case for so-called preventive worker-directed active labour market policies as part of the new welfare architecture. These policies are aimed at preventing unemployment and promoting labour-market transitions and employability. They involve responsibilities on the part of the state, social partners and employers. First, the case for these policies is elaborated by analysing the social investment, flexicurity and transitional labour-market literature. In this context, several issues related to the feasibility of the pluralistic management of preventing unemployment, as well as the possible impact of pluralistic risk management on dualisation, are discussed. Secondly, recent policy initiatives in the Netherlands are presented as an illustration of the incremental emergence of preventive worker-directed active labour-market policies. It is argued that although these policy initiatives were initially introduced as responses to the crisis, they may eventually turn out to reflect a more fundamental reorientation in managing and dealing with the risks of unemployment. The conclusion critically reflects and argues that pluralistic risk management may exacerbate, rather than mitigate, the insecurities of flexible and non-standard workers.

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.

A sociological study of patterns and determinants of child labour in India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barsa Priyadarsinee Sahoo
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
National Sample ◽  
Child Labour ◽  
Sample Survey ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the patterns and incidence of child labour in India and to examine the magnitude of child labour across different social groups. It analyses the impact of the socio-economic background of the children on their participation in the labour market. Design/methodology/approach The paper primarily relies on the data collected from secondary sources. The census of India data and the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) 66th round data (2009–2010) on employment and unemployment in India for the study. The dependent variable on child labour has been computed by the author for the analysis in the paper. Findings The findings of the paper suggest that poverty is not the only determinant of child labour, but gender and caste of a person is also a significant factor for child labour. The study found that children from lower-caste backgrounds in India seem to participate more in the labour market. In terms of gender, the study found that boys are more likely to engage in economic activities or paid jobs while girls are more likely to engage in household activities. Originality/value Data used in this paper has been extracted by the author from unit level data provided by NSSO. The variables used for the analysis in the presented paper has been constructed by the author and the figures provided are the result of the author’s estimation on data.

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.

Household leverage and consumption during the Great Depression

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 287-299
Author(s):  
Kim Abildgren
Keyword(s):  
Great Depression ◽  
Financial Stability ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Durable Consumption ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Level Data ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of household leverage on consumption in Denmark during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Design/methodology/approach A range of consumption functions are estimated on the basis of household-level data from the Expenditure and Saving Survey of 1931. Findings The estimations show significant negative marginal effects of various measures of leverage on homeowners’ non-durable consumption. The magnitude of the estimated effects suggests that leverage contributed significantly to the economic downturn during the Great Depression by depressing consumer spending of homeowners. Practical implications Gross debt levels of homeowners are not only of direct importance for financial stability but also have implications for macroeconomic stability, which again might affect the stability of the financial system. These findings seem to be in line with the focus on household leverage in the macroprudential oversight performed by regulators and central banks in many countries. Originality/value This paper is the first study of the leverage channel in the private consumption function using household micro data from the Great Depression.

scholarly journals NGOs and challenges confronted in the implementation of active labour market policies

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-133
Author(s):  
Thomas Babila Sama
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
City Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Religious Background ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find the challenges confronted by NGOs in the implementation of the active labour market policies of Finland and Sweden, and how the challenges could be overcome. Design/methodology/approach This is a qualitative empirical case study where two NGOs were selected in Finland and one NGO was selected in Sweden for the data collection. The two selected NGOs in Finland were Jyväskylän Katulähetys in the City of Jyväskylä and Pirkanmaan Sininauha in the City of Tampere. Meanwhile, the one selected NGO in Sweden was Stockholm’s Stadsmission in the City of Stockholm. Primary data for this study were collected through interviews with two senior executives of the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden. Secondary data were collected through the websites of the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden, the organizational records, books, published and unpublished research and from internet websites. The data were analyzed through qualitative content and thematic analyses. Findings The findings revealed that the selected NGOs in Finland and Sweden were confronted with four main challenges in their work, namely: funding challenge because the NGOs did not have sufficient funds to carry out their activities effectively; credibility challenge mainly by the NGO in Sweden because Sweden is a very secular country where there is political resistance for public money being given to faith-based organizations in the country; workforce recruitment challenge because the NGOs have to employ specifically long-term unemployed people from disadvantaged groups in the case of the NGOs in Finland, and because whenever they have to compete with other stakeholders for a bid to win a project funded by the city council, the city council often demands that about 80 per cent of their staff need to have a social work qualification in the case of the NGOs in Sweden; and competition challenge because of competition with other stakeholders to win bids from the city council in the case of the NGOs in Sweden. On the other hand, the findings revealed that these challenges could be overcome if the Government of Finland and Sweden provide the NGOs with sufficient funds for them to carry out their activities. Research limitations/implications The limitations of this study are that this is a case study focused only on two NGOs in Finland and one NGO in Sweden. Thus, in order to generalize the findings to include the whole country, it is recommended that a more representative number of NGOs be studied in future studies. This study also focused only on NGOs with a religious background in Finland and Sweden. Future studies could include NGOs with a non-religious background. Practical implications The practical implication of this study is that the study may be useful to policy makers in the development of policies for NGOs involved in the area of social service provision. Social implications The social implication is that this study may contribute in making NGOs to become more effective in their work in the society. Originality/value This study is original in that it is an empirical research.

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