"Other countries have already privatised their job placement systems to a greater extent than Germany has. This concerns such different welfare state regimes as Australia and Great Britain on the one hand and the Netherlands - and more recently also Belgium and Denmark - on the other hand....

"This article examines the consequences of contracting-out on the basis of the four criteria of efficiency, economy, effectiveness and equality (3 or 4 e's concept), which are borrowed from New Public Management research. The paper is based on 76 expert interviews and informative discussions...

"Institutional changes in the governance of employment services were the starting point of comprehensive labour market and social policy reforms - the so-called Hartz-reforms (2003-2005) - in Germany. Particularly with the Hartz IV reform in 2005 Germany's status- and occupation-oriented social...