Labour market policy as a support of the trans-formation process in eastern Germany

Abstract

"Labour market policy always had and continues to have an indisputable role in the transformation process in eastern Germany - complementary to the diverse efforts of economic and structural policy in dealing with the structural breakdown and creating new jobs. It has not only eased the pressure on the labour market rapidly and to a considerable extent, and provided individuals with new employment prospects; it has also been confronted with structural polity expectations more than ever before in western Germany and in the process has also been overtaxed - sometimes having to fend for itself - in view of the dimensions of the radical transformation. Major job creating measures of relevance from a structural policy aspect occurred. The development was deliberately reinforced institutionally by the introduction of employment and structural development companies and instrumentally above all by the flat-rate employment subsidy in accordance with §249h 1 of the Employment Promotion Act. Uncertain prospects for the future impeded the realistic training striven for, but also led in many places to new approaches using training to support or even to initiate small business set-ups or redevelopment work. Without labour market policy assistance, the economic restart in many parts of eastern Germany would not have been able to take place so rapidly, although labour market policy can only contribute to the structural change and the creation of permanent jobs, but can not bring these about of its own accord. Many restrictions which stand in the way of a more extensive linking of the political fields still remain. The structural policy potentials of labour market policy in eastern Germany have not been and certainly will not be drained, but they have been developed further and sight must be not lost of them. In view of many remaining uncertainties, especially with regard to the structural policy effect of measures, evaluations based on causal analysis seem to be necessary on a larger scale than previously to supplement the descriptive analyses on which this elaboration largely had to be based. This is, however, certainly not only true of labour market policy alone." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Wolfinger, C. & Brinkmann, C. (1996): Arbeitsmarktpolitik zur Unterstützung des Transformationsprozesses in Ostdeutschland. In: Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Vol. 29, No. 3, p. 331-348.