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Job Search Assistance Programs in Europe: Evaluation Methods and Recent Empirical Findings

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Author Info
Stephan Thomsen () (Faculty of Economics and Management, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg)

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Abstract

Job search assistance programs are part of active labor market policy in many countries. The main characteristics of these activities are an intensi ed counseling and a job search monitoring; in addition, several countries integrate courses teaching further skills into the programs. Job search assistance programs should help to increase the employment chances and to reduce the unemployment duration of the job seekers. In this paper, recent empirical ndings from evaluation studies for 9 European countries are reviewed and implications with regard to the e ectiveness of the activities are derived. To make the ndings of various studies evaluating the di erent programs comparable, the methodological issues of the empirical approaches applied to estimate the causal e ects of the programs are discussed in detail. In addition, relevant characteristics of the unemployment insurance systems, the assignment process, and the content of programs are presented to derive meaningful implications. The comparison of the programs takes account of individual e ects and, if available, cost bene t considerations. The results show that job search assistance programs tend to provide an e ective means to reduce individual unemployment, particularly if provided as combinations of intensive counseling and short-term training courses

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management in its series FEMM Working Papers with number 09018.

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Length: 41 pages
Date of creation: May 2009
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:mag:wpaper:09018

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Related research
Keywords: Job search assistance programs; active labor market policy; evaluation methods; Europe;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - Public Policy
C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

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    Other versions:
  2. John Micklewright & Gyula Nagy, 2005. "Job Search Monitoring and Unemployment Duration in Hungary: Evidence from a Randomised Control Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 1839, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Bruno, CREPON & Muriel, DEJEMEPPE & Marc, GURGAND, 2005. "Counseling the unemployed : does it lower unemployment duration and recurrence ?," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2005034, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques. [Downloadable!]
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  18. Heckman, James J. & Lalonde, Robert J. & Smith, Jeffrey A., 1999. "The economics and econometrics of active labor market programs," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 31, pages 1865-2097 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  20. Lancaster, Tony, 1979. "Econometric Methods for the Duration of Unemployment," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 939-56, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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