Policy makers view public sector-sponsored employment and training programs and other active labor market policies as tools for integrating the unemployed and economically disadvantaged into the work force. Few public sector programs have received such intensive scrutiny, and been subjected to so many different evaluation strategies. This chapter examines the impacts of active labor market policies, such as job training, job search assistance, and job subsidies, and the methods used to evaluate their effectiveness. Previous evaluations of policies in OECD countries indicate that these programs usually have at best a modest impact on participants’ labor market prospects. But at the same time, they also indicate that there is considerable heterogeneity in the impact of these programs. For some groups, a compelling case can be made that these policies generate high rates of return, while for other groups these policies have had no impact and may have been harmful. Our discussion of the methods used to evaluate these policies has more general interest. We believe that the same issues arise generally in the social sciences and are no easier to address elsewhere. As a result, a major focus of this chapter is on the methodological lessons learned from evaluating these programs. One of the most important of these lessons is that there is no inherent method of choice for conducting program evaluations. The choice between experimental and non-experimental methods or among alternative econometric estimators should be guided by the underlying economic models, the available data, and the questions being addressed. Too much emphasis has been placed on formulating alternative econometric methods for correcting for selection bias and too little given to the quality of the underlying data. Although it is expensive, obtaining better data is the only way to solve the evaluation problem in a convincing way. However, better data are not synonymous with social experiments. © 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

The Economics and Econometrics of Active Labor Market Programs

1. The political economy of skills in comparative-historical perspective 2. The evolution of skill formation in Germany 3. The evolution of skill formation in Britain 4. The evolution of skill formation in Japan and the United States 5. Evolution and change in the German system of vocational training 6. Conclusions, empirical and theoretical.

How Institutions Evolve: The Political Economy of Skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan

The converging roles of men and women are among the grandest advances in society and the economy in the last century. These aspects of the grand gender convergence are figurative chapters in a history of gender roles. But what must the “last” chapter contain for there to be equality in the labor market? The answer may come as a surprise. The solution does not (necessarily) have to involve government intervention and it need not make men more responsible in the home (although that wouldn't hurt). But it must involve changes in the labor market, especially how jobs are structured and remunerated to enhance temporal flexibility. The gender gap in pay would be considerably reduced and might vanish altogether if firms did not have an incentive to disproportionately reward individuals who labored long hours and worked particular hours. Such change has taken off in various sectors, such as technology, science, and health, but is less apparent in the corporate, financial, and legal worlds. (JEL J3, J16, ...

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A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter

Nonstandard employment relations—such as part-time work, temporary help agency and contract company employment, short-term and contingent work, and independent contracting—have become increasingly prominent ways of organizing work in recent years. Our understanding of these nonstandard work arrangements has been hampered by inconsistent definitions, often inadequate measures, and the paucity of comparative research. This chapter reviews the emerging research on these nonstandard work arrangements. The review emphasizes the multidisciplinary nature of contributions to this field, including research by a variety of sociologists, economists, and psychologists. It also focuses on cross-national research, which is needed to investigate how macroeconomic, political, and institutional factors affect the nature of employment relations. Areas for future research are suggested.

http://disciplinas.stoa.usp.br/pluginfile.php/133966/mod_resource/content/1/Kalleberg_2000_Nonstandard%20employment%20relations.pdf

Nonstandard Employment Relations: Part-time, Temporary and Contract Work

This paper was motivated by the growing interest of scholars of multinational corporations (MNCs) in the institutional perspective. Our review of the literature suggests that international management applications of this perspective have been dominated by a narrow set of neoinstitutional ideas. We develop a set of provocations that challenge the validity of traditional neoinstitutionalism in the context of MNCs. We then offer ideas for more novel theory building in the study of MNCs, based on integrating “old” and “new” institutionalism.

Institutional Theory in the Study of Multinational Corporations: A Critique and New Directions

This is a detailed, up-to-date guide to different national labour markets, and policies to combat unemployment and their outcomes. It provides a coherent, systematic framework for the rapidly growing field of labour market policy.

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International handbook of labour market policy and evaluation

Current levels of youth unemployment need to be understood in the context of increased labor market flexibility, an expansion of higher education, youth migration, and family legacies of long-term unemployment. Compared with previous recessions, European-wide policies and investments have significantly increased with attempts to support national policies. By mapping these developments and debates, we illustrate the different factors shaping the future of European labor markets. We argue that understanding youth unemployment requires a holistic approach that combines an analysis of changes in the economic sphere around labor market flexibility, skills attainment, and employer demand, as well as understanding the impact of family legacies affecting increasingly polarized trajectories for young people today. The success of EU policy initiatives and investments will be shaped by the ability of national actors to implement these effectively.

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Five Characteristics of Youth Unemployment in Europe: Flexibility, Education, Migration, Family Legacies, and EU Policy

The growth in part-time employment has been one of the most striking features in industrialized economies over the past forty years. Part-Time Prospects presents for the first time a systematically comparative analysis of the common and divergent patterns in the use of part-time work in Europe, America and the Pacific Rim. It brings together sociologists and economists in this wide-ranging and comprehensive survey. It tackles such areas as gender issues, ethnic questions and the differences between certain national economies including low pay, pensions and labour standards.

Part-time prospects: an international comparison of part-time work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim

Part-Time Prospects: An International Comparison of Part-Time Work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim

We address the issues raised by Gunther Schmid's proposal to develop transitional labour markets, by examining theoretical explanations and empirical evidence affecting transitions through part-time work. By analysing British and German Household Panel data, we outline the changing characteristics of part-time employment and employees in the early 1990s. We show that only a tiny number of women were able to use part-time work as a bridge back into a full-time job. A substantial proportion ends up dropping out of employment, especially in Germany. Having previous employment experience is more likely to hinder exclusionary transition patterns, whereas the presence of more than one child, especially in Germany, is associated with dropping out. We conclude by assessing the implication of these findings for both policy reform and theoretical developments.

http://doku.iab.de/grauepap/2003/ks2003_OReilly.pdf

Jacqueline O'Reilly

Papers

International handbook of labour market policy and evaluation

Five Characteristics of Youth Unemployment in Europe: Flexibility, Education, Migration, Family Legacies, and EU Policy

Part-time prospects: an international comparison of part-time work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim

Part-Time Prospects: An International Comparison of Part-Time Work in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim

What happens after working part time? Integration, maintenance or exclusionary transitions in Britain and western Germany