A Microeconometric Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland

In the second half of the 1990s Switzerland introduced an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing a variety of programmes. We evaluate the effects of these programmes on individual employment probability using unusually informative data originating from administrative records. Using a matching estimator for multiple programmes, we find positive effects for one particular programme that is a unique feature of the Swiss ALMP. It consists of a wage subsidy for temporary jobs in the regular labour market that would otherwise not be taken up by the unemployed. We also find negative effects for traditional employment programmes operated in sheltered labour markets. For training courses the results are mixed.