We study the political economy of labour market policies. First, it is shown that tax and redistributive considerations lead inside workers to prefer spending on active labour market programmes to passive spending, e.g., on unemployment benefits. We also show that greater active spending may be...

We study the political economy of labour market policies. First, it is shown that tax and redistributive considerations lead inside workers to prefer spending on active labour market programmes to passive spending, e.g., on unemployment benefits. We also show that greater active spending may be...

In recent times, Japan has experienced a rapid expansion in its service sector, increases in casual and part-time employment and record unemployment. In addition, there has been an associated rise of freeters and NEETs - predominantly young workers with tenuous labour market attachment. While...