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Evaluation der Arbeitsmarktpolitik

Arbeitsmarktpolitik soll neben der Wirtschafts- und Strukturpolitik sowie der Arbeitszeit- und Lohnpolitik einen Beitrag zur Bewältigung der Arbeitslosigkeit leisten. Aber ist sie dabei auch erfolgreich und stehen die eingebrachten Mittel in einem angemessenen Verhältnis zu den erzielten Wirkungen? Die Evaluationsforschung geht der Frage nach den Beschäftigungseffekten und den sozialpolitischen Wirkungen auf individueller und gesamtwirtschaftlicher Ebene nach. Das Dossier bietet weiterführende Informationen zu Evaluationsmethoden und den Wirkungen von einzelnen Maßnahmen für verschiedene Zielgruppen.

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Unemployment insurance and job polarization (2025)

    Griffy, Benjamin ; You, Kai; Masters, Adrian ;

    Zitatform

    Griffy, Benjamin, Adrian Masters & Kai You (2025): Unemployment insurance and job polarization. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 93. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102690

    Abstract

    "This paper considers how the structure of the UI system interacts with the observed profile of separations to generate “job-polarization” – wage and separation rate persistence. We extend a standard on-the-job labor search model to include an initial period of high separation rates until the job stochastically becomes more stable. Meanwhile a worker’s UI entitlement varies in generosity (based on their former wage) and duration (based on their employment history). The separation structure means that some workers have extended periods of frequent job loss. The UI system amplifies these effects because workers with low benefit eligibility apply for low wage jobs. Their subsequent applications then leave them more highly susceptible to future job loss. Our calibration suggests that this effect accounts for around 1% lower lifetime average wages." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2025 Elsevier B.V. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    The Macroeconomic Dynamics of Labor Market Policies (2025)

    Hurst, Erik ; Winberry, Thomas; Pastorino, Elena; Kehoe, Patrick J. ;

    Zitatform

    Hurst, Erik, Patrick J. Kehoe, Elena Pastorino & Thomas Winberry (2025): The Macroeconomic Dynamics of Labor Market Policies. (NBER working paper / National Bureau of Economic Research 33614), Cambridge, Mass, 53 S. DOI:10.3386/w33614

    Abstract

    "We develop a dynamic macroeconomic framework with worker heterogeneity, putty-clay adjustment frictions, and firm monopsony power to study the distributional impact of labor market policies over time. Our framework reconciles the well-known tension between low short-run and high long-run elasticities of substitution across inputs of production, especially among workers with different skills within a same education group. We use this framework to evaluate the effects of redistributive policies such as the minimum wage and the Earned Income Tax Credit. We argue that since these policies generate slow transition dynamics that can differ greatly in the short and long run, a serious assessment of their overall impact must take account of the entire time path of the responses they induce." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Employment and Consumption Responses to the Withdrawal of Unemployment Benefits (2025)

    Parolin, Zachary ; Pignatti, Clemente ;

    Zitatform

    Parolin, Zachary & Clemente Pignatti (2025): Employment and Consumption Responses to the Withdrawal of Unemployment Benefits. In: ILR review, Jg. 78, H. 3, S. 543-570. DOI:10.1177/00197939251322173

    Abstract

    "The authors study the responses to the withdrawal of two generous unemployment benefit (UB) schemes introduced in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic, exploiting variations across states in the timing of the policy change. Using data from the Current Population Survey, they find that the expiration of UBs increased unemployment-to-employment transitions. However, approximately half of this effect was driven by job recalls. Evidence also shows that unemployed individuals transitioned into lower quality jobs, compared to their previous occupations, and that young job seekers not eligible for UBs were displaced by increased job-search competition. Using both survey and transaction data, the authors also provide complementary evidence on the consumption effects of the policy change. They document a small reduction in consumption after the withdrawal of pandemic UBs for some non-necessary spending categories." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    A program evaluation of the new choices workforce development program: An appreciative inquiry approach (2025)

    Whitacre, Denise;

    Zitatform

    Whitacre, Denise (2025): A program evaluation of the new choices workforce development program: An appreciative inquiry approach. In: Evaluation and program planning, Jg. 108. DOI:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2024.102507

    Abstract

    "A significant amount of money ($1.76B annually in the United States) is spent on workforce development programs, while there is limited research on the effectiveness of workforce development programs in meeting their program objectives and assisting program participants in attaining employment. This study evaluated the New Choices Program, a workforce development program offered by PA Women Work, to help its clients obtain employment and overcome personal and professional barriers. The program has historically been offered in a 30-hour in person format but was forced to be modified to a 10-hour virtual program when the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions began. This program evaluation included a comparative analysis of the perceptions of participants in the 30-hour in person program and the 10-hour virtual program. It was found that participants in both the 30-hour in person program and 10-hour virtual program perceived the program positively, experienced an increase in self-confidence and belonging, which led to either obtaining employment or being better prepared for the job search process. The data will help inform the New Choices program stakeholders on programmatic improvements and how best to structure the program in the post-pandemic employment world." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Does Federally Funded Job Training Work?: Nonexperimental Estimates of WIA Training Impacts Using Longitudinal Data on Workers and Firms (2024)

    Andersson, Fredrik ; Smith, Jeffrey ; Lane, Julia I. ; Holzer, Harry J. ; Rosenblum, David;

    Zitatform

    Andersson, Fredrik, Harry J. Holzer, Julia I. Lane, David Rosenblum & Jeffrey Smith (2024): Does Federally Funded Job Training Work? Nonexperimental Estimates of WIA Training Impacts Using Longitudinal Data on Workers and Firms. In: The Journal of Human Resources, Jg. 59, H. 4, S. 1244-1283. DOI:10.3368/jhr.0816-8185r1

    Abstract

    "We study the effect of U.S. Workforce Investment Act (WIA) training in two states using matched employer–employee data. This allows us to estimate the impact of training on firm characteristics and to assess the value of firm characteristics measured prior to training as conditioning variables. We find moderate positive impacts of training on employment and earnings for adults, but not for dislocated workers. We find limited evidence of positive effects on firm characteristics for adults in one state, but clear evidence of effects on industry of employment for most groups. Firm characteristics add little value as conditioning variables." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Did Unemployment Insurance Modernization Provisions Increase Benefit Receipt among Economically Disadvantaged Workers? (2024)

    Chang, Yu-Ling ; Hodges, Leslie ;

    Zitatform

    Chang, Yu-Ling & Leslie Hodges (2024): Did Unemployment Insurance Modernization Provisions Increase Benefit Receipt among Economically Disadvantaged Workers? In: Social Service Review, Jg. 98, H. 1, S. 139-177. DOI:10.1086/728680

    Abstract

    "This study investigates the effects of state expansions of unemployment insurance (UI) eligibility criteria on UI recipiency among unemployed workers. Using a difference-in-differences approach and data from the Current Population Survey (2003-2020), we find evidence largely consistent with the expected overall and differential effects of the expansions. An alternative base period (ABP) increases UI take-up by approximately 5 percentage points. Some evidence suggests compelling family reasons provisions increase take-up among caregivers but not those without caring responsibilities. Part-time provisions increase take-up among previously part-time workers, with no effect on previously full-time workers. The estimated magnitudes are around 6 percentage points. In addition, we observe some evidence of differential impacts by gender. Our findings contribute insights into UI policy conversations, including federal mandates for ABP and part-time provisions in eligibility determinations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    From Unemployment to Self-Employment: An Evaluation of Self-Employment Assistance Programs (2024)

    Gaillard, Alexandre; Kankanamge, Sumudu ;

    Zitatform

    Gaillard, Alexandre & Sumudu Kankanamge (2024): From Unemployment to Self-Employment: An Evaluation of Self-Employment Assistance Programs. In: Journal of labor economics. DOI:10.1086/732765

    Abstract

    "This paper evaluates Self-Employment Assistance (SEA) programs, which are Government initiatives extending the unemployment insurance (UI) system to support unemployment to self-employment transitions. Using a general equilibrium model of the US labor market,we show that these programs have important labor market mobility effects and increase theself-employment rate. They also significantly impact the composition and performance out-comes of self-employment: while lump-sum subsidies select low-skilled individuals, SEAprograms contingent on previously employed earnings select skilled and wealthier individuals. At the aggregate level, the latter programs mainly reallocate individuals from employ-ment to self-employment, leaving the unemployment rate largely unaffected." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    How Far from Full Employment? The European Unemployment Problem Revisited (2024)

    Gökten, Meryem ; Heimberger, Philipp ; Lichtenberger, Andreas ;

    Zitatform

    Gökten, Meryem, Philipp Heimberger & Andreas Lichtenberger (2024): How Far from Full Employment? The European Unemployment Problem Revisited. (WIIW working paper 245), Wien, 44 S.

    Abstract

    "This paper analyses deviations from full employment in EU countries, compared with the US and the UK. We apply the Beveridge (full-employment-consistent) rate of unemployment (BECRU), derived from the unemployment-vacancies relationship. The BECRU is the level of unemployment that minimizes the non-productive use of labor. Based on a novel dataset for the period 1970-2022, we find full employment episodes in selected EU countries (Germany, Sweden, Austria, Finland) during the 1970s. The European unemployment problem emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, as Beveridgean full employment gaps increased. In the run-up to the global financial crisis, full employment gaps declined, then increased during the Great Recession. Slack in labor markets increased initially during the pandemic. Labour markets became tighter when recovering from the COVID-19 crisis, but few countries hit full employment. Panel regressions highlight that hysteresis, labor market institutions, structural factors, macroeconomic factors and political factors contribute to explaining full employment gaps." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Worker Heterogeneity and Optimal Unemployment Insurance: The Surprising Power of the Floor (2024)

    Heiler, Simon J.;

    Zitatform

    Heiler, Simon J. (2024): Worker Heterogeneity and Optimal Unemployment Insurance: The Surprising Power of the Floor. (CRC TR 224 discussion paper series / EPoS Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224 545), Bonn, 46 S.

    Abstract

    "Incentives to search for employment vary systematically with age and idiosyncratic labor productivity. These variations should be accounted for when designing UI policy, yet conditioning on related factors can be difficult or infeasible in practice. Using a life cycle model with endogenous human capital accumulation, idiosyncratic labor risk, and permanent differences in worker productivity, I analyze optimal UI policies. I find that for the U.S. an age-and-type-dependent policy generates welfare gains equal to 0.3 percentage points of consumption in all states and periods relative to a constant a replacement rate. Moreover, I demonstrate that about 80% of the gains from conditioning replacement rates on age only and about 60% of the welfare gains from conditioning on age and productivity can be generated by the current U.S. UI system. This can be achieved by substantially raising the benefit floor, a feature of the U.S. UI system that is largely ineffective in its current implementation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Taking a Chance on Workers: Evidence on the Effects and Mechanisms of Subsidized Employment from an RCT (2023)

    Barham, Tania ; Turner, Patrick S.; Cadena, Brian C.;

    Zitatform

    Barham, Tania, Brian C. Cadena & Patrick S. Turner (2023): Taking a Chance on Workers. Evidence on the Effects and Mechanisms of Subsidized Employment from an RCT. (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16221), Bonn, 114 S.

    Abstract

    "This paper estimates experimental impacts of a supported work program on employment, earnings, benefit receipt, and other outcomes. Case managers addressed employment barriers and provided targeted financial assistance while participants were eligible for 30 weeks of subsidized employment. Program access increased employment rates by 21 percent and earnings by 30 percent while participants were receiving services. Though gains attenuated after services stopped, treatment group members experienced lasting improvements in employment stability, job quality, and well-being, and we estimate the program's marginal value of public funds to be 0.64. Post-program impacts are entirely concentrated among participants whose subsidized job was followed by unsubsidized employment with their host-site employer. This decomposition result suggests that encouraging employer learning about potential match quality is the key mechanism underlying the program's impact, and additional descriptive evidence supports this interpretation. Machine learning methods reveal little treatment effect heterogeneity in a broad sample of job seekers using a rich set of baseline characteristics from a detailed application survey. We conclude that subsidized employment programs with a focus on creating permanent job matches can be beneficial to a wide variety of unemployed workers in the low-wage labor market." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Adapting or compounding? The effects of recurring labour shocks on stated and revealed preferences for redistribution (2023)

    Cotofan, Maria ; Matakos, Konstantinos;

    Zitatform

    Cotofan, Maria & Konstantinos Matakos (2023): Adapting or compounding? The effects of recurring labour shocks on stated and revealed preferences for redistribution. (CEP discussion paper / Centre for Economic Performance 1957), London, 34 S.

    Abstract

    "The evidence on the impact of employment shocks on preferences for redistribution is mixed on stated outcomes and sparse on revealed ones. We conduct a survey of US workers to measure the impact of repeated labour market shocks on both stated and revealed redistributive preferences. We measure the former by support on seven different policies and the latter through donations. We look at experiences of both mild shocks (having to reduce working hours) and hard shocks (unemployment), as well as past unemployment during formative years. We find evidence of adaptation to unemployment on policy preferences and compounding for milder shocks on donations, suggesting that the effects of repeated shocks on preferences for redistribution are not independent. Our results show that unemployment impacts preferences in a self-interested way, while milder shocks lead to broader support for redistribution." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Heterogeneity in labor mobility and unemployment flows across countries (2023)

    Créchet, Jonathan;

    Zitatform

    Créchet, Jonathan (2023): Heterogeneity in labor mobility and unemployment flows across countries. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 155. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104441

    Abstract

    "Empirical studies of labor-market flows suggest cross-country differences in long-run aggregate unemployment inflows and outflows of a strikingly large magnitude. The canonical search-and-matching framework of Mortensen and Pissarides (1994, 1999b; the MP model) features small elasticities of steady-state unemployment flows with respect to firing costs, at odds with the idea that labor-market institutions such as employment protection policies are a primary driver of this variation. This paper shows that introducing permanent match-quality heterogeneity in the standard MP model substantially amplifies these elasticities. It then develops a quantitative search model with worker and job heterogeneity consistent with U.S. worker-flow data. This model implies that employment protection differences plausibly account for most of the long-run unemployment-flow variation across high-income countries. In sharp contrast, shutting down heterogeneity implies that large changes in matching efficiency are required to explain the same cross-country variation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2023 Elsevier) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Sectoral shocks, reallocation, and labor market policies (2023)

    Garcia-Cabo, Joaquin; Lipinska, Anna; Navarro, Gaston;

    Zitatform

    Garcia-Cabo, Joaquin, Anna Lipinska & Gaston Navarro (2023): Sectoral shocks, reallocation, and labor market policies. In: European Economic Review, Jg. 156. DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2023.104494

    Abstract

    "Unemployment insurance and wage subsidies are key tools to support labor markets in recessions. We develop a multisector search-and-matching model with on-the-job human capital accumulation to study labor market policy responses to sector-specific shocks. Our calibration accounts for structural differences in labor markets between the United States and the euro area, including a lower job-finding rate in the latter. We use the model to evaluate unemployment insurance and wage subsidy policies in recessions of different duration. After a temporary sector-specific shock, unemployment insurance improves reallocation toward productive sectors at the cost of initially higher unemployment and, thus, human capital destruction. By contrast, wage subsidies reduce unemployment and preserve human capital at the cost of limiting reallocation. In the United States, unemployment insurance is preferred to wage subsidies when it does not distort job creation for too long. In the euro area, wage subsidies are preferred, given the lower job-finding rate and reallocation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2023 Elsevier) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Displaced workers and the pandemic recession (2023)

    Guo, Angela ; Yang, Meifeng ; Krolikowski, Pawel;

    Zitatform

    Guo, Angela, Pawel Krolikowski & Meifeng Yang (2023): Displaced workers and the pandemic recession. In: Economics Letters, Jg. 226. DOI:10.1016/j.econlet.2023.111071

    Abstract

    "Workers displaced during the pandemic recession experienced better earnings and employment outcomes than workers displaced during previous recessions. A sharp recovery in aggregate labor market conditions after the pandemic recession accounts for these better outcomes. The industry and occupation composition of displaced workers, the prevalence of recalls, and increased take-up of unemployment insurance benefits are unlikely explanations." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2023 Elsevier) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Can Workforce Development Help Us Reach Full Employment? (2023)

    Holzer, Harry J. ;

    Zitatform

    Holzer, Harry J. (2023): Can Workforce Development Help Us Reach Full Employment? (IZA discussion paper / Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit 16624), Bonn, 24 S.

    Abstract

    "In this paper, I review the potential of workforce development programs to help the US get closer to "full employment." First, I provide some background on workforce development in the US, and also on the aggregate employment/labor force issues that workforce programs may or may not address. Then I review the empirical evidence on job training and other forms of workforce development, in terms of impacts on employment (as opposed to earnings). I briefly consider how the US experience in this regard compares and contrasts with that of other countries in the EU or OECD, and what we might learn from them. I conclude that more and better workforce development could help somewhat to achieve lower unemployment and higher labor force participation in the US, though we also need a range of other policies to achieve these goals." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Disincentive Effects of Unemployment Insurance Benefits (2023)

    Hornstein, Andreas; Kurmann, Andre; Karabarbounis, Marios;

    Zitatform

    Hornstein, Andreas, Marios Karabarbounis & Andre Kurmann (2023): Disincentive Effects of Unemployment Insurance Benefits. (Working paper series / Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond 2023-11), Richmond, VA, 65 S. DOI:10.21144/wp23-11

    Abstract

    "Unemployment insurance (UI) acts both as a disincentive for labor supply and as a demand stimulus which may explain why empirical studies often find limited effects of UI on employment. This paper provides independent estimates of the disincentive effects arising from the largest expansion of UI in U.S. history, the pandemic unemployment benefits. Using high-frequency data on small restaurants and retailers from Homebase, we control for local demand effects by comparing neighboring businesses that largely share the positive impact of UI stimulus. We find that employment in low-wage businesses recovered more slowly than employment in high-wage businesses in labor markets with larger differences in the relative generosity of pandemic UI benefits. According to a labor search model that replicates the estimated employment differences between low- and high-wage businesses, the disincentive effects from the pandemic UI programs held back the aggregate employment recovery by 4.7 percentage points between April and December 2020." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Use of Customized Employment in State Vocational Rehabilitation Programs: A Retrospective Study 2017–2020 (2023)

    Kim, Jaeyoung ; Inge, Katherine; Keeton, Beth; Castruita-Rios, Yazmin ; Riesen, Tim ; Tansey, Timothy N. ;

    Zitatform

    Kim, Jaeyoung, Katherine Inge, Beth Keeton, Tim Riesen, Yazmin Castruita-Rios & Timothy N. Tansey (2023): Use of Customized Employment in State Vocational Rehabilitation Programs: A Retrospective Study 2017–2020. In: Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin, Jg. 66, H. 3, S. 186-194. DOI:10.1177/00343552221140335

    Abstract

    "The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of customized employment via an analysis using the U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration Case Service Report (RSA-911) from Federal Fiscal Years of 2017 through 2020. The independent variables were demographics, barriers to employment, and types of state vocational rehabilitation agency (SVRA) services, and the dependent variables were competitive integrated employment status and weekly earnings at exit. Descriptive analyses, multiple logistic regression, and hierarchical multiple regression comprised data analysis. The study sample (N = 2,280) was 57.9% male and 42.1% female and had a mean age of 32.69 years (SD = 12.83). Seventy-seven percent identified themselves as White and 46.7% had a cognitive disability. The results of this study indicated that consumers who have cognitive disability and cultural barriers; are migrant farmworkers and/or dependents; and receive job placement assistance, short-term job supports, maintenance services, benefits counseling, and supported employment are more likely to get competitive integrated employment at exit (R2 = .34). Multiple variables were found to be significantly related to weekly earnings at exit and explained 24% of the variance. Rehabilitation counselors should take into consideration the findings of this study to determine from which supports consumers may benefit to attain successful employment goals, particularly for customized employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    The $800 Billion Paycheck Protection Program: Where Did the Money Go and Why Did it Go There? (2022)

    Autor, David; Cho, David ; Villar Vallenas, Daniel; Peterman, William B. ; Goldar, Mita; Yildirmaz, Ahu ; Montes, Joshua K.; Crane, Leland D. ; Lutz, Byron ; Ratner, David D.;

    Zitatform

    Autor, David, David Cho, Leland D. Crane, Mita Goldar, Byron Lutz, Joshua K. Montes, William B. Peterman, David D. Ratner, Daniel Villar Vallenas & Ahu Yildirmaz (2022): The $800 Billion Paycheck Protection Program: Where Did the Money Go and Why Did it Go There? (NBER working paper 29669), Cambridge, Mass, 46 S. DOI:10.3386/w29669

    Abstract

    "The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) provided small businesses with roughly $800 billion dollars in uncollateralized, low-interest loans during the pandemic, almost all of which will be forgiven. With 93 percent of small businesses ultimately receiving one or more loans, the PPP nearly saturated its market in just two months. We estimate that the program cumulatively preserved between 2 and 3 million job-years of employment over 14 months at a cost of $170K to $257K per job-year retained. These estimates imply that only 23 to 34 percent of PPP dollars went directly to workers who would otherwise have lost jobs; the balance flowed to business owners and shareholders, including creditors and suppliers of PPP-receiving firms. Program incidence was highly regressive, with about three-quarters of PPP funds accruing to the top quintile of households. This compares unfavorably to the other two major pandemic aid programs, enhanced UI benefits and Economic Impact Payments (i.e. stimulus checks). PPP's breakneck scale-up, its high cost per job saved, and its regressive incidence have a common origin: PPP was essentially untargeted because the United States lacked the administrative infrastructure to do otherwise. The more targeted pandemic business aid programs deployed by other high-income countries exemplify what is feasible with better administrative systems. Building similar capacity in the U.S. would enable greatly improved targeting of either employment subsidies or business liquidity when the next pandemic or other large-scale economic emergency occurs, as it surely will." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    The fundamental role of tax systems in the relationship between workfare and inequality in the lower half of the income distribution (2022)

    Binder, Barbara ; Haupt, Andreas ;

    Zitatform

    Binder, Barbara & Andreas Haupt (2022): The fundamental role of tax systems in the relationship between workfare and inequality in the lower half of the income distribution. In: Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, Jg. 80. DOI:10.1016/j.rssm.2022.100712

    Abstract

    "In recent decades, many affluent democracies moved from traditional welfare states to workfare systems. Meanwhile, income inequality developed differently across countries, even when they made apparently similar shifts from welfare to workfare. It is a matter of debate why welfare state change had such heterogeneous consequences across countries. This article proposes that different incentives to take up low-wage work set by tax reforms in the wake of welfare-to-workfare transitions alter consequences on inequality in the lower half of the income distribution. To support this argument, we contrast the trends between the U.S. and Germany. The German and U.S. tax systems were used in very different ways to incentivize low-wage work. The U.S. provided strong incentives to take up low-wage, high-hour work through refundable tax credits. They act as in-work subsidies and represent an enormous public income support program. In contrast, in Germany, payroll taxes were reduced for marginal employment. These jobs were intended to serve as a stepping stone to full employment. Germany aimed to reduce barriers to labor market entry, but did not increase subsidies for those working higher hours in low-wage jobs. We hypothesize that the German path led to increased income inequality within the lower half of the income distribution, whereas the large U.S. tax-based subsidies in the U.S. significantly counteracted it. Decompositions of unconditional quantile regressions based on the SOEP and the CPS-ASEC for 1992 and 2014 strongly support these assumptions. Households with no labor market integration lost ground with the workfare reforms in both countries, increasing inequality in the lower half. However, U.S. households that conformed to the new workfare system by taking low-wage jobs received additional after-tax income through tax cuts and credits. This additional income of the beneficiary households increased the percentile values between the 10th and 30th percentiles by about 6 per cent, thus reducing income inequality in the lower half. Germany, on the contrary, lacked such compensatory subsidies for compliant households. Thus, increased take-up of low-wage work was associated with an increase in income inequality in the lower half. We conclude that tax systems are important in understanding why the shift towards workfare was associated with heterogeneous trends in income inequality across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2022 Elsevier) ((en))

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  • Literaturhinweis

    Labour market protection across space and time: A revised typology and a taxonomy of countries' trajectories of change (2022)

    Ferragina, Emanuele ; Filetti, Federico Danilo ;

    Zitatform

    Ferragina, Emanuele & Federico Danilo Filetti (2022): Labour market protection across space and time: A revised typology and a taxonomy of countries' trajectories of change. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 32, H. 2, S. 148-165. DOI:10.1177/09589287211056222

    Abstract

    "We measure and interpret the evolution of labour market protection across 21 high-income countries over three decades, employing as conceptual foundations the ‘regime varieties’ and ‘trajectories of change’ developed by Esping-Andersen, Estevez-Abe, Hall and Soskice, and Thelen. We measure labour market protection considering four institutional dimensions – employment protection, unemployment protection, income maintenance and activation – and the evolution of the workforce composition. This measurement accounts for the joint evolution of labour market institutions, their complementarities and their relation to outcomes, and mitigate the unrealistic Average Production Worker assumption. We handle the multi-dimensional nature of labour market protection with Principal Component Analysis and capture the characteristics of countries’ trajectories of change with a composite score. We contribute to the literature in three ways. (1) We portray a revised typology that accounts for processes of change between 1990 and 2015, and that clusters regime varieties on the basis of coordination and solidarity levels, that is, Central/Northern European, Southern European, liberal. (2) We illustrate that, despite a persistent gap, a large majority of Coordinated Market Economies experiencing a decline in the level of labour market protection became more similar to Liberal Market Economies. (3) We develop a fivefold taxonomy of countries’ trajectories of change (liberalization, dualization, flexibility, de-dualization and higher protection), showing that these trajectories are not always path-dependent and consistent with regime varieties previously developed in the literature." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

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