ABS-Gesellschaften - eine problemorientierte Analyse bisheriger Befunde (Employment promotion, employment and structural development companies (ABS-Gesellschaften) : a problem-oriented analysis of present results)

"Substantial employment promotional, labour market and structural policy contributions were expected from the companies for employment promotion, employment and structural development (ABS companies) within the context of the transformation process in eastern Germany. With a view to the three central objects of the ABS companies - socially acceptable bridging of the economic upheaval, realisation of structurally relevant employment measures, individual and collective new business setups and splitups - we analysed the question of whether or not the companies could fulfill these expectations on the basis of various quantitative studies and qualitative case studies. The ABS considerably quantitatively relieved the labour market by employing people in the '2nd labour market'. However, only a relatively small share of those employed succeeded in surmounting the hurdles to the '1st labour market'. Socially acceptable bridging in the ASB was accompanied to some extent by erosions in maintaining qualification and in the level of job desires, owing to a discrepancy between the lower structural demands of the jobs and the qualifications of the workers. The latest results show that the ABS could not fulfill the expectations of a link between labour market and structural policies, which was to have had a beneficial effect on the local infrastructure. This is true as well for new business setups and splitups. The number of new business setups which were actually realized lay well below the originally estimated potential. The limited effectivity of the ABS companies as employment policy bridges, agents of structural change and new business setups was rooted in the insurmountable conflicts of interests between policy agents (social parties, state governments, 'Treuhand'), which ended up in contradictory formula compromises. The consequences were inconsistent expectations for actions taken and policy recommendations, which did not meet the conditions and competence of the actions taken, deficits in the coordination of various specialist policies and basic defects in the labour market and employment policy status of the ABS. Neither material nor instrumental prerequisites were at hand to form a link between employment promotion, employment and structural development. The ambiguity of the objectives and the half-hearted support for the ABS companies brought about a typical dilemma of content, time and social action, which has resulted in sustained impairment of their effectivity." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))