The Locking-In Effect of Subsidized Jobs

Recent evaluations of active labor market policies are not very optimistic about their effectiveness to bring unemployed back to work.An important reason is that unemployed get locked-in, that is they reduce their effort to find a regular job.This paper uses an administrative dataset from the Slovak Republic on durations of individual unemployment spells.The focus of the analysis is temporary subsidized jobs.By exploiting the variation in the duration of these jobs it is possible to investigate whether or not the locking-in effect is important.It turnsout that it is.unemployment;labour policy;subsidies

Leaving "Hotel California": How Incentives Affect Flows of Benefit Recipients in the Netherlands

This paper discusses developments in the Netherlands concerning unemployment insurance, unemployment assistance and disability insurance.The emphasis is on how incentives for individual workers and firms affect flows of benefit recipients.unemployment benefits;unemployment assistance;disability benefits;incentives

Cannabis, Cocaine and Jobs

This paper uses a dataset collected among inhabitants of Amsterdam, to study the employment effects of the use of cannabis and cocaine.For females no negative effects of drug use on the employment rate are found.For males there is a negative correlation between past cannabis and cocaine use and employment. However, after correcting for the effect of unobserved personal characteristics there is no negative effect of cannabis use or cocaine use on the employment status of males.drugs;employment;cannabis;cocaine

Subsidized Jobs for Unemployed Workers in Slovakia

This paper uses an administrative dataset from the Slovak Republic on durations of individual unemployment spells. The focus of the analysis is on the effect of the duration of temporary subsidized jobs on the job finding rate of unemployed workers. It appears that the duration of the temporary jobs is an important determinant of the speed by which unemployed workers find regular jobs. In this sense shorter temporary jobs are more effective than long temporary jobs. The main reason for this is probably that temporary jobs with a long duration induce workers in the first period on the temporary job to search less intensive for a regular job than temporary jobs with a short duration do.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39695/3/wp311.pd

Dynamics in the Use of Drugs

C41; D12; I19;alcohol;tobacco;cannabis;cocaine;ecstasy;drug use;age of onset

Do Active Labor Market Policies help Unemployed Workers to find and keep Regular Jobs

This paper uses an administrative dataset to analyze to what extent active labor market policies in the Slovak Republic have been beneficial for unemployed workers. The focus is on two types of temporary subsidized jobs and on training. Short-term subsidized jobs seem to be the most efficient active labor market policy. Workers that are or have been on a short-term subsidized job have a higher job finding rate than other unemployed workers have and once they find a job they have a lower job separation rate than workers that have not been on a short-term subsidized job. Long-term subsidized jobs have a negative effect on the job finding rate and no effect on the job separation rate. The positive effect of training on the job finding rate of unemployed workers may have to do with reversed causality: some workers enter a training program only after they are promised a job. Training does not seem to affect the job separation rate.unemployment;active labor market policy;duration models

Cannabis, Cocaine and the Wages of Prime Age Males

This paper uses a dataset collected among inhabitants of Amsterdam, to study whether wages of prime age male workers are affected by the use of cannabis and cocaine.The analysis shows that cocaine use and infrequent cannabis use do not affect wages.Frequent cannabis use has a negative wage effect.The age of onset is also important.The earlier current cannabis users have started to use cannabis the larger the negative impact on their wage.

The Long and Winding Road to Cannabis Legalization

In almost all countries supply, distribution and use of cannabis is prohibited. Nevertheless, cannabis is the most popular illicit drug. Prohibition does not seem to work. The debate on legalization of cannabis is often emotional with strong views of both proponents and opponents but ignorance prevails. There are supposedly detrimental health effects of cannabis use but researchers debate whether they are causal or mere associations. As long as nowhere in the world cannabis is legalized it is difficult to get a clear idea about the effects of legalization. Rather than muddling through for several decades it would be wise to start moving on the long and winding road to cannabis legalization.Cannabis use;Effects of use;cannabis legalization

A Pint a Day Raises a Man's Pay; But Smoking Blows that Gain Away

This paper studies the wage effects of the use of alcohol and tobacco.The analysis based on a recent survey in the Netherlands shows that for males the use of tobacco has a negative wage effect of about 10% while the use of alcohol has a positive wage effect of about the same size.The wages of females are not affected by smoking and drinking.drinking;smoking;wages;earnings regressions