Wage subsidies and international trade: when does policy coordination pay?

National labour market institutions interact across national boundaries when product markets are global. Labour market policies can thus entail spill-overs, a fact widely ignored in the academic literature. This paper studies the effects of wage subsidies in an international duopoly model with unionised labour markets. We document both positive and negative spill-over effects and discuss the benefits and costs from international policy coordination both for the case of symmetric and asymmetric labour market institutions. Our results suggest that institutional differences could sign responsible for the slow speed at which labour market policy coordination has progressed so far

Flexicurity in Denmark

Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse, Dänemark, Flexicurity, Labour market flexibility, Labour market policy, Economic policy analysis, Denmark

POLICY AND PRACTICE TARGETING THE LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION OF NON-EU NATIONALS IN IRELAND. ESRI RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 89 JUNE 2019

Increases in immigration inflows to both the European Union (EU) and Ireland between 2014 and 2016, due in part to the ‘refugee and migrant crisis’, have resulted in an increased focus on integration policies, outcomes and measures, including in the area of labour market integration. Employment is crucial for the integration of migrants into the economic and social life of their host country, so labour market integration is a very important part of integration policy (European Commission, 2016). In recent years, many Member States have updated existing labour market integration policies or have developed new ones. Ireland, like the majority of EU Member States (EMN, 2019), pursues a policy of mainstreaming service provision in the area of integration, with targeted initiatives to meet specific needs. This study first considers labour migration policy, which manages and shapes overall access of non-European Economic Area (EEA) nationals to the Irish labour market.1 Under the employment permits system administered by the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation (DBEI), non-EEA nationals may apply to access the Irish labour market. The report then looks at specific policies and measures which aim to improve labour market integration for non-EU nationals living in Ireland. The focus is on labour integration measures for regularly staying non-EU nationals with a right to work. Measures specifically targeting non-EEA students, graduates, asylum seekers and beneficiaries of international protection are beyond the study scope. The effect of general labour market and social policy provision in Ireland on labour market integration is also outside the scope. Examples of public and private sector practices are discussed together with examples of community sector practices that receive public funds

The Role of Active Labour Market Programmes in Employment Policy

The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of the Irish labour market since approximately 1980 with a particular focus on the central role of active labour market programmes in public policy. Active labour market programmes (ALMP) is an umbrella term for all measures aimed at increasing either the supply of or demand for labour. We will outline the theoretical rationale for labour market programmes and discuss their implementation and development in the Irish context. Specifically we will outline the levels of expenditure and throughput on labour market programmes and attempt to place Ireland in a comparative international perspective. Briefly we will examine some of the attempts which have been made to evaluate the effectiveness of labour market programmes in terms of the employment and income outcomes of participants. We will pay particular attention to long-term unemployment which was such a key feature of the Irish labour market throughout the 1980s and 1990s.Public Policy, Employment Policy, Active Labour Market Prorgammes, Active Labor Market Progams, ALMP, Ireland

Institutions and performance in European labour markets: taking a fresh look at evidence

This paper presents a selective survey of the recent literature on labour market institutions and performance and offers new empirical EU-based evidence on the impact of labour market reforms on employment and labour market adjustment. While the literature traditionally treats labour market institutions as exogenous, attention shifted recently towards understanding the underlying causes of specific institutional arrangements. As a consequence, the literature highlights the great importance of an efficient policy design exploiting these interactions wisely and identifies general principles for achieving an efficient policy design at both macro and micro levels. While empirical evidence does no show a major change in terms of intensity of labour market reform after the setting of the Economic and Monetary Union and the creation of the euro, the reforms aiming at strengthening the labour market attachment of vulnerable groups tend to have been successful both in raising their employment and increasing labour market adjustment.'Institutions and Performance in European Labour Markets', 'labour market functioning; political economy; endogeneity; institutions; policy design'; Arpaïa, Mourre

Flexicurity: Lessons and Proposals from the Netherlands

Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung, Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Ungeschützte Beschäftigung, Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse, Niederlande, Flexicurity, Labour market flexibility, Labour market policy, Precarious employment, Economic policy analysis, Netherlands

Asymmetric Effects of National-based Active Labour Market Policies

Labour market policies settled at national level imply a “one-size-fits-all” labour market strategy. This strategy might not sufficiently take into account region-specific economic structures. We employ a panel factor-augmented vector autoregression (FAVAR) to evaluate whether active labour market programmes (ALMPs) might asymmetrically affect labour markets at regional level in a data-rich environment. The paper focuses on Italian regions. Our results suggest that while in the South employment is mainly driven by social and economic context variables, in the North the employment dynamics is significantly explained by policy interventions. Finally, we suggest two main policy implications. First, the success of active policies depends on the regional labour market conditions. Second, policymakers should adjust labour policy strategy to the regional economic structureActive Labour Market Policies, FAVAR.

Flexicurity as a Policy Agenda

Arbeitsmarktpolitik, Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung, Arbeitnehmerschutz, Ideologie, Wirtschaftspolitische Wirkungsanalyse, Welt, Flexicurity, Labour market policy, Labour market flexibility, Employment protection legislation, Ideology, Economic policy analysis, World

Formal and informal labour markets: Challenges and policy in the Central and Eastern European new EU members and candidate countries

The paper aims at comparing the formal and informal labour markets in the Central and Eastern European new EU Member States and candidate countries of the European Union. First, the current situation of the labour market is described, focusing on the recent developments since the breaking up of the East. Then the policy design of these labour markets is depicted and its effects on formal and informal labour markets. The most important challenges for employment policy as well as the effects of enlargement on the labour markets are analysed. The paper ends with a short summary.Formal and informal labour markets; shadow economy; labour market policy; unemployment; employment; wage compensation; labour market regulation