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Do German Welfare-to-Work Programmes Reduce Welfare Dependency and Increase Employment?

Author

Listed:
  • Huber Martin

    (University of St Gallen, Dufourstrasse 50, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

  • Lechner Michael

    (University of St Gallen, Dufourstrasse 50,St. Gallen, Switzerland)

  • Wunsch Conny

    (University of St Gallen, Dufourstrasse 50, St. Gallen, Switzerland)

  • Walter Thomas

    (Centre for European Economic Research,Mannheim, Germany)

Abstract

During the last decade, many Western economies reformed their welfare systems with the aim of activating welfare recipients by increasing welfare-to-work programmes (WTWP) and job-search enforcement. We evaluate the short-term effects of three important German WTWP implemented after a major reform in January 2005 (‘Hartz IV’), namely short training, further training with a planned duration of up to three months and public workfare programmes (‘One-Euro-Jobs’). Our analysis is based on a combination of a large-scale survey and administrative data that is rich with respect to individual, household, agency level and regional information. We use this richness of the data to base the econometric evaluation on a selection-on-observables approach. We find that short-term training programmes, on average, increase their participants’ employment perspectives. There is also considerable effect heterogeneity across different subgroups of participants that could be exploited to improve the allocation of welfare recipients to the specific programmes and thus increase overall programme effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Huber Martin & Lechner Michael & Wunsch Conny & Walter Thomas, 2011. "Do German Welfare-to-Work Programmes Reduce Welfare Dependency and Increase Employment?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(2), pages 182-204, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:12:y:2011:i:2:p:182-204
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0475.2010.00515.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Matsumoto, Kodai, 2022. "The effects of employment support programs on public assistance recipients: The case of a Japanese municipality program," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Ivanov, Boris & Pfeiffer, Friedhelm & Pohlan, Laura, 2020. "Do job creation schemes improve the social integration and well-being of the long-term unemployed?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Katharina Dengler, 2019. "Effectiveness of sequences of classroom training for welfare recipients: what works best in West Germany?," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 1-46, January.
    4. Di Pietro Giorgio, 2025. "Labour market effects of training programmes in the EU. Findings and policy lessons from a meta-analysis," JRC Research Reports JRC142871, Joint Research Centre.
    5. Maria Luisa Maitino & Marco Mariani & Valentina Patacchini & Letizia Ravagli & Nicola Sciclone, 2024. "The Employment Effects of the Italian Minimum Guaranteed Income Scheme Reddito di Cittadinanza," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 10(2), pages 649-681, July.
    6. Andreas Knabe & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2017. "The subjective well-being of workfare participants: insights from a day reconstruction survey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(13), pages 1311-1325, March.
    7. Stefan Tübbicke, 2023. "How sensitive are matching estimates of active labor market policy effects to typically unobserved confounders?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 57(1), pages 1-16, December.
    8. Katrin Hohmeyer, 2011. "Effectiveness of One-Euro-Jobs: Do programme characteristics matter?," Post-Print hal-00719485, HAL.
    9. Regina T. Riphahn & Christoph Wunder, 2016. "State dependence in welfare receipt: transitions before and after a reform," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1303-1329, June.
    10. Dengler, Katharina, 2013. "Effectiveness of sequences of One-Euro-Jobs : is it better to do more One-Euro-Jobs or to wait?," IAB-Discussion Paper 201316, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    11. 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.
    12. Walter, Thomas & Butschek, Sebastian, 2013. "What Active Labour Market Programmes Work for Immigrants in Europe?," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79745, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Stephan L. Thomsen & Thomas Walter, 2010. "Temporary Extra Jobs for Immigrants: Merging Lane to Employment or Dead‐End Road in Welfare?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 24(s1), pages 114-140, December.
    14. Sebastian Butschek & Thomas Walter, 2014. "What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Lukas Fervers, 2016. "Fast track to the labour market or highway to hell? The effect of activation policies on quantity and quality of labour market integration," IAW Discussion Papers 125, Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung (IAW).
    16. Tobias Brändle & Lukas Fervers, 2021. "Give it Another Try: What are the Effects of a Job Creation Scheme Especially Designed for Hard-to-Place Workers?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 382-417, December.
    17. Wapler, Rüdiger & Wolf, Katja & Wolff, Joachim, 2018. "Do active labour market policies for welfare recipients in Germany raise their regional outflow into work? : A matching function approach," IAB-Discussion Paper 201808, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    18. Hohmeyer, Katrin & Wolff, Joachim, 2015. "Selektivität von Ein-Euro-Job-Ankündigungen," IAB-Forschungsbericht 201502, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].

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