This paper first reviews trends since 1985 in public spending on labour market programmes, both active and passive. It then reviews the main findings from recent evaluations of labour market programmes. At first sight evaluation findings are not very encouraging, but there are some success...

Although rather discouraging in general, the evaluation literature indicates some measures that have been successful. Job-search assistance, wage subsidies in the private sector, and labour market training do work for some groups, even if the impacts are not large. Also, the evaluation...

Evidence from many OECD countries shows that immigrants, in particular recent arrivals, tend to be especially affected by an economic downturn. The available tentative evidence on unemployment suggests that this is also the case in Norway in the current downturn, particularly with respect to the...

Increasing international migration and changing immigrant populations in OECD countries make international comparable data on migrant populations essential. These data should be updated regularly to capture a detailed picture of migrant populations. This document presents the first results of...

Increasing international mobility makes international comparable data even more important, to depict global migration patterns and its characteristics, not only in receiving countries but also in origin countries. This paper provides a detailed picture of immigrant and emigrant populations...