"Since the change in government in 1997 the socialist-orientated majority in France has been pursuing a new labour market policy which is based to a large extent on measures promised du-ring the election campaign. The interventions of the French state in industrial relations affect many areas...

Until 1998, wage subsidies were practically unknown in Germany. The new government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder introduced them as local projects in the framework of his Employment Pact. In March 2002, one particular variation on these projects, known as the Mainz model, was extended to...