Anfang 2004 trat der in der sogenannten Hartz-III-Reform beschlossene Umbau der Vermittlungstätigkeit der öffentlichen Arbeitsverwaltung in Kraft. Ziel war es, die Arbeitslosigkeit durch eine schnellere Jobvermittlung zu senken. Zwar nahm die Arbeitslosigkeit seitdem tatsächlich ab, der Autor...

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Nutzung der (konjunkturellen) Kurzarbeit durch mittelständische Betriebe. Es zeigte sich, dass kleine und mittelgroße Betriebe dieses Instrument deutlich seltener als ihre großbetrieblichen Pendants nutzen: im Juni 2009 ließen nur etwa 1,6 Prozent der kleinen...

The trend towards activation has been one of the major issues in recent welfare and labour market reforms in Europe and the US. Despite considerable initial variation across national models with respect to the scope and intensity of activation, redefining the link between social protection and...

Unemployment insurance (UI) sanctions in the form of benefit reductions are intended to set disincentives for UI recipients to stay unemployed. Empirical evidence about the effects of UI sanctions in Germany is sparse. Using administrative data we investigate the effects of sanctions on the...

Since the middle of the 1980s many European countries have reduced the strictness of their employment protection mainly by relaxing it for temporary jobs. These countries are Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. The article explores the...

This paper studies the role of job search assistance programs in optimal welfare-to-work programs. The analysis is based on a framework, that allows for endogenous choice of benefit types and levels, wage taxes or subsidies, and activation measures such as monitoring and job search assistance...

Our paper investigates the relative effects of wage subsidies and further vocational training on the subsequent employment prospects of previously unemployed program participants. First, we outline a theoretical approach based on a firm's hiring decision. For the relative effectiveness of both...