The effect of temporary employment subsidies on employment duration

In this paper we estimate the impact of temporary employment subsidies for young long-)term unemployed workers in Belgium on the transition rate from employment to non-employment. We account for selective participation on the basis of a multivariate duration model with correlated unobserved heterogeneity. Our estimates indicate that the policy decreases the transition rate from employment to non-employment in the first year of participation. There is no signification effect on the transition rates in the second year and after participation.Evaluation, Subsidised employment, MMPH, employment duration

Is Temporary Employment a Stepping Stone for Unemployed School Leavers?

Many school-leavers enter the labour market via temporary employment. In this paper we investigate the impact of a temporary employment spell at the start of the career on the transition rate into permanent employment. We compare the case of temporary employment to the hypothetical case of a direct transition from unemployment to permanent employment. In order to control for selective participation in temporary employment we include a large set of explanatory variables which have been especially collected to study school-leavers. We apply the AIC-information criterion to select the appropriate specification for unobserved heterogeneity. Based on the information criteria we conclude that given our data, there is no support for a model with selection in unobserved characteristics. Simulation exercises provide insights into the development of the effect of temporary employment over time. For a sample of unemployed Flemish school-leavers we find that in the short run temporary employment delays the school leaver's transition to permanent employment. However, in the long run temporary employment acts as a stepping stone and decreases the duration until permanent employment. --temporary employment,school leavers,labour market policy

Income support policies for part-time workers : a stepping-stone to regular jobs ? An application to young long-terme unemployed women in Belgium

We verify whether an income support policy for part-time workers in Belgium increases the transition from unemployment to non-subsidised, “regular” employment. Using a sample of 8630 long-term unemployed young women, whose labour market history is observed from 1998 to 2001, we implement the “timing of events approach proposed byAbbring et Van den Berg (2003) to control for selection effects. Our results suggest that the policy has a significantly positive effect on the transition to non-subsidised employment when one does not control for unobserved heterogeneity. This effect remains positive, but becomes insignificant, when one corrects for selection on unobservable characteristics.Active labour markets policies, Evaluation, Mixed Proportional Hazard Models

Age and productivity : evidence from linked employer employee data

In most Western, industrialised countries the workforce is ageing rapidly. In order to assess the possible consequences of an ageing workforce, this paper measures the impact of changes in the age structure of establishments on productivity using representative linked employer-employee panel data. We take into account that the levels as well as the changes in the age structure of establishments and their production are likely to be simultaneously determined and apply dynamic GMM methods. We find that establishment productivity increases with the share of employees until the age of 50-55 and only decreases slightly afterwards. Our findings suggest that previous estimations are biased because they either do not take into account endogeneity, time dependencies, or crucial information correlated with age shares and productivity. Large standard deviations point to important variation in the age productivity profile among establishments

Is temporary employment a stepping stone for unemployed school leavers?

Many school-leavers enter the labour market via temporary employment. In this paper we investigate the impact of a temporary employment spell at the start of the career on the transition rate into permanent employment. We compare the case of temporary employment to the hypothetical case of a direct transition from unemployment to permanent employment. In order to control for selective participation in temporary employment we include a large set of explanatory variables which have been especially collected to study school-leavers. We apply the AIC-information criterion to select the appropriate specification for unobserved heterogeneity. Based on the information criteria we conclude that given our data, there is no support for a model with selection in unobserved characteristics. Simulation exercises provide insights into the development of the effect of temporary employment over time. For a sample of unemployed Flemish school-leavers we find that in the short run temporary employment delays the school leaver’s transition to permanent employment. However, in the long run temporary employment acts as a stepping stone and decreases the duration until permanent employment

Separating wheat and chaff: age-specific staffing strategies and innovative performance at the firm level

Adopting a dynamic perspective, this paper investigates age-related staffing patterns in German establishments and their effect on innovative performance. First, we investigate how establishments achieve the necessary workforce rejuvenation - from the inflow of younger or from outflows of older workers. In addition, we explore whether certain staffing patterns are more likely to appear under different economic regimes. In a second step, we analyse whether an establishment’s innovative performance is related to the staffing patterns it experiences. The analysis of linked-employer-employee data shows that most of the 585 German establishments covered rejuvenate by inflows of younger workers. Half of the establishments also use the outflow of older workers. Furthermore, workforces are more likely to become more age-heterogeneous in growing establishments. Finally, we do not find evidence that a youth-centred human resource strategy (always) fosters innovation

Legitimation, Kooptation und Repression in der Volksrepublik China

"This article examines the interaction of legitimation, cooptation, and repression in China's authoritarian consolidation. It shows that the totalitarian regime under Mao Zedong was characterized by a low degree of performance and cooptation and that it had to rely on extreme repression and ideological indoctrination to stay in power. After the death of Mao Zedong, the character of the regime changed markedly. The new elites made sparing use of repression and indoctrination but did not compensate the abdication of coercive and ideological control with increases in the performance or cooptation of powerful social groups. This induced a power vacuum, in which popular discontent against increasing corruption, rising inequality, and high inflation fermented. The student demonstrations of 1989, which quickly spread to include other population groups, were an expression of this discontent. Learning from this crisis, the communist party leadership subsequently initiated reforms to increase regime performance and co-opted an increasing number of social groups. The use of repression remained a last resort option. The central findings of this contribution are that these measures significantly improved the stability of China's one - party autocracy." (author's abstract