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Do Long-Term Unemployed Workers Benefit from Targeted Wage Subsidies?

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  • Benjamin Schünemann
  • Michael Lechner
  • Conny Wunsch

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="geer12040-abs-0001"> We evaluate a wage subsidy program that is targeted at long-term unemployed workers in Germany. We use an alternative identification procedure compared to empirical studies conducted so far. Exploiting the particular program regulations and large administrative data we estimate the impact of program availability using a regression discontinuity framework. Our results suggest no significant impact of the availability of the subsidy on labor market outcomes of the target group. Even though our analysis lacks some statistical power, our findings do not support the substantial positive effects obtained from matching studies. As our approach does not require observability of all drivers of selection, previous empirical studies justifying government expenditures on wage subsidies based on matching methods should be reconsidered.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Schünemann & Michael Lechner & Conny Wunsch, 2015. "Do Long-Term Unemployed Workers Benefit from Targeted Wage Subsidies?," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 16(1), pages 43-64, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:germec:v:16:y:2015:i:1:p:43-64
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/geer.2015.16.issue-1
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    Cited by:

    1. Lechner, Michael & Scioch, Patrycja & Wunsch, Conny, 2013. "Do Firms Benefit from Active Labour Market Policies?," Working papers 2013/11, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.
    2. Pasquini, Alessandra & Centra, Marco & Pellegrini, Guido, 2019. "Fighting long-term unemployment: Do we have the whole picture?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    3. Sam Desiere & Bart Cockx, 2021. "How Effective Are Hiring Subsidies to Reduce Long-Term Unemployment among Prime-Aged Jobseekers? Evidence from Belgium," CESifo Working Paper Series 9325, CESifo.
    4. Andrea Albanese & Bart Cockx & Muriel Dejemeppe, 2022. "Long-Term Effects of Hiring Subsidies for Unemployed Youths—Beware of Spillovers," CESifo Working Paper Series 9972, CESifo.
    5. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer, 2013. "Do Wage Subsidies Work in Boosting Economic Inclusion? Evidence on Effect Heterogeneity in Austria," WIFO Working Papers 456, WIFO.
    6. Astrid Kunze & Marta Palczyńska & Iga Magda, 2023. "The employment effects of a wage subsidy for the young during an economic recovery," IBS Working Papers 04/2023, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Antonia Asenjo & Verónica Escudero & Hannah Liepmann, 2024. "Why Should we Integrate Income and Employment Support? A Conceptual and Empirical Investigation," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(1), pages 1-29, January.
    8. Michael Weber, 2016. "The short-run and long-run effects of decentralizing public employment services," ifo Working Paper Series 209, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    9. Angelov, Nikolay & Eliason, Marcus, 2014. "The effects of targeted labour market programs for job seekers with occupational disabilities," Working Paper Series 2014:27, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Nikolay Angelov & Marcus Eliason, 2018. "Wage subsidies targeted to jobseekers with disabilities: subsequent employment and disability retirement," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 7(1), pages 1-37, December.
    11. Albanese, Andrea & Cockx, Bart & Dejemeppe, Muriel, 2024. "Long-term effects of hiring subsidies for low-educated unemployed youths," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    12. Joachim Wolff & Gesine Stephan, 2013. "Subsidized work before and after the German Hartz reforms: design of major schemes, evaluation results and lessons learnt," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-24, December.
    13. Emanuele Ciani & Adele Grompone & Elisabetta Olivieri, 2025. "Jobs for the Long-Term Unemployed: Place-Based Policies in Depressed Areas," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 11(1), pages 211-252, March.
    14. Jeff Borland, 2016. "Wage Subsidy Programs: A Primer," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 19(3), pages 131-144.
    15. Moczall, Andreas, 2015. "The effect of hiring subsidies on regular wages," IAB-Discussion Paper 201501, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    16. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer, 2012. "Do wage subsidies work in boosting economic inclusion? Evidence on e," EcoMod2012 4065, EcoMod.
    17. Alic BÎRCA, 2023. "Workforce Participation in Active Labour Market Policies: A Comparative Analysis in EU Member States," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 24(2), pages 173-187, May.
    18. Caliendo, Marco & Mahlstedt, Robert & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2017. "Unobservable, but unimportant? The relevance of usually unobserved variables for the evaluation of labor market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-25.
    19. Matthieu Delpierre, 2022. "The impact of hiring subsidies on survival of heterogeneous jobs," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 42(2), pages 907-912.
    20. Deuchert, Eva & Kauer, Lukas, 2013. "Hiring subsidies for people with a disability: Helping or hindering? - Evidence from a small scale social field experiment," Economics Working Paper Series 1335, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
    21. Sjögren, Anna & Vikström, Johan, 2015. "How long and how much? Learning about the design of wage subsidies from policy changes and discontinuities," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 127-137.
    22. Moczall, Andreas, 2015. "The effect of hiring subsidies on regular wages," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113225, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    23. Vom Berge, Philipp & Klingert, Isabell & Becker, Sebastian & Lenhart, Julia & Trenkle, Simon & Umkehrer, Matthias, 2016. "Mindestlohnbegleitforschung - Überprüfung der Ausnahmeregelung für Langzeitarbeitslose : Forschungsauftrag des Bundesministeriums für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS)," IAB-Forschungsbericht 201608, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J08 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics Policies
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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