Employer wage subsidies and wages in Germany: empirical evidence from individual data

In Germany, targeted wage subsidies to employers are an important instrument of active labor market policy. This paper compares the wages of individuals taking up a subsidized job with those of otherwise similar individuals who found an unsubsidized job, combining propensity score matching with a differences-in-differences strategy. The results indicate for the short-run that subsidized jobs are not associated with gains or losses regarding daily wages. Nonetheless, because subsequent employment rates of subsidized persons are higher on average, we find a positive relationship between cumulated wages and subsidization

The effectiveness of targeted wage subsidies for hard-to-place workers

Targeted wage subsidies paid to employers are an important element of active labour market policies in Germany. This article uses propensity score matching to investigate their effect on the employment and unemployment rates of subsidized hard-to-place workers. In a first scenario, we estimate the average treatment effect of a subsidy on previously unemployed individuals. A second scenario analyses the effects of a subsidy on employment probabilities conditional on taking-up employment. The third scenario investigates the additional effect of a subsidy on individuals, who have participated in a short-term training measure beforehand. Summing up and in line with the literature, the results show that subsidies have a favourable effect on the employment prospects of participants.

Eingliederungszuschüsse bei Einarbeitung und erschwerter Vermittlung: Matching-Analysen auf der Basis von Prozessdaten

Eingliederungszuschüsse bei Einarbeitung und erschwerter Vermittlung wirken sich positiv auf die Beschäftigungschancen der Geförderten aus. Dies zeigt eine aktuelle Studie des Instituts für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), die im Rahmen der Evaluierung der Hartz- Gesetze I-III im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales in Zusammenarbeit mit dem ZEW (Mannheim) und dem IAT (Gelsenkirchen) erstellt wurde. Untersucht werden Erwerbsverläufe von Personen, die im ersten Quartal 2002 eine geförderte Beschäftigung aufgenommen haben. Die mittelfristigen Auswirkungen der Förderung lassen sich auf Basis des Vergleichs mit einer Kontrollgruppe nicht geförderter Personen schätzen. Der Anteil der Personen in regulärer Beschäftigung liegt demnach gut zwei Jahre nach Beginn der Förderung in der Gruppe der Geförderten 30 bis 50 Prozentpunkte höher als in der Vergleichsgruppe. Abstract According to a study of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), the ZEW and the IAT settling-in allowances for job introduction as well as for hard-to-place workers have a positive impact on employment prospects of subsidized workers. The study is part of the evaluation of recent labour market reforms in Germany, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Employment and Social Affairs. We analyse individual employment careers of persons who took up subsidized work in the first three months of the year 2002. The medium-term effects of settling-in allowances are estimated by means of a matched control group of unemployed individuals. Two years after the (hypothetical) entry into subsidised work the share of employed persons is still 30 to 50 percentage points higher among subsidised workers than among non-subsidised persons in the control group

Recruitment and selection of older workers

In recent decades there has been a shift in labor market public policy from a culture of early retirement to one centered on hiring older workers, i.e., those aged over 50. The culture of early exit flourished in most major industrialized economies until the 1990s. Previously, older workers who left the workforce prematurely were regarded to be early retirees rather than unemployed. Their joblessness ended not with their reentering the workforce but transferring to pensions (Casey and Laczko 1989). Subsequently, there has been a policy shift towards prolonging working lives that has been generated by population aging in general as well as the aging of workforces in specific industry sectors, such as nursing and teaching

The Fair Trade Idea: Towards an Economics of Social Labels

The concept of Fair Trade is applied to the marketing of a variety of goods. In recent years it has met a continually increasing interest among consumers. Different Fair Trade organizations are trying to accomplish an improvement in working and living conditions in developing countries by means of Fair Trade certificates and by paying a price markedly above world market standard. This is meant to lead to the attainment of basic social standards, especially in agricultural production. The article deals with how Fair Trade works and whether the social aims can be achieved by the application of this trade concept. Our main result is that even though efficiency of redistribution through the Fair Trade institutions is lower than through traditional relief organizations, the Fair Trade concept provides an additional incentive to support better living conditions in the Third World. Moreover, it provides a stimulus for producers to reorganize the production process in a socially more acceptable manner even when this is not rewarded by the Fair Trade company. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2007Fair trade, Social labels, International trade, Sustainability, Social justice, Extrinsic product quality,