Substantial fiscal consolidation was achieved under the aegis of the 2003 Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act. While deficits widened anew in 2008 and 2009, against the backdrop of the global financial and economic crisis, efforts to reduce them have resumed since. To ensure...

In tutti i Paesi ad economia e welfare sviluppati, la spesa sanitaria è, tra le voci di spesa sociale, quella che nelle prossime decadi farà registrare la crescita più intensa in termini di PIL, e soprattutto più soggetta ad alea per la presenza di fattori - lato offerta e lato domanda - il...

This paper suggests a novel explanation of the steady rise in Germany's welfare recipient numbers. In the paper's model, there are disadvantaged households employed in a city with few amenities (a bad-amenity city) who would prefer to receive welfare in a city with many amenities (a good-amenity...

Employment guarantee programs have often been used by developing countries to ensure livelihood of the poorer sections of the society without recourse to physical or human capital. India started the world’s largest such program in 2005 in the form of the National Rural Employment Guarantee...

This paper provides an empirical analysis of contracting decisions in the provision of welfare-to-work (WTW) services. Our findings suggest that contracting decisions are predominantly driven by cost considerations, both for the decision to contract with other municipalities and the share of...

In April 2002 Jobcentre Plus started to operate in the UK bringing together the service of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Offering a fully integrated benefit claiming and work placement/job-seeking service for people of working age this new organisation aims to strengthen the...

This discussion paper led to an article in the <I>European Economic Review</I> (2014). Vol. 71(October), pages 1-14.<P> This paper assesses the effects of changes in scoring weights in auctions, using a unique sample of biddings of private Welfare-to-Work (WTW) organizations to reintegrate groups of...</p></i>

This paper assesses the effects of changes in scoring weights in auctions, using a unique sample of bids from private Welfare-to-Work (WTW) service providers to reintegrate groups of unemployed and disabled workers. These providers received points for their price bids and for three proxies of...

In April 2002 Jobcentre Plus started to operate in the UK bringing together the service of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service. Offering a fully integrated benefit claiming and work placement/job-seeking service for people of working age this new organisation aims to strengthen the...