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Swedish youth labour market policies revisited

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The paper studies the efficiency of Swedish labour market policies for young workers. Using age discontinuities which define which policy regime an individual is covered by we present quasi-experimental evidence on the relative efficiency of different policy regimes currently in use. Results suggest that youth policies are more effective than the policies covering adult unemployed. The effects mainly appear early in the unemployment spell; we find no evidence of positive long run effects. To uncover which part of the policies that accounts for the positive effect, we use matching techniques to study the relative efficiency of youth programmes and general adult programmes which are available also for the young. The results indicate that youth programmes are significantly less effective than adult oriented programmes. Overall, the evidence thus suggest that youth policies speed up the transition from unemployment to jobs either due to pre-programme deterrence effects or because of more intense job search support from the public employment services before the programmes.

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  • Forslund, Anders & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2006. "Swedish youth labour market policies revisited," Working Paper Series 2006:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
  • Handle: RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2006_006
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    Cited by:

    1. Diego Restuccia & Guillaume Vandenbroucke, 2013. "The Evolution Of Education: A Macroeconomic Analysis," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(3), pages 915-936, August.
    2. Caroline Hall & Kaisa Kotakorpi & Linus Liljeberg & Jukka Pirttilä, 2022. "Screening through Activation? Differential Effects of a Youth Activation Program," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 57(3), pages 1033-1077.
    3. Annette Bergemann & Gerard J. Van Den Berg, 2008. "Active Labor Market Policy Effects for Women in Europe - A Survey," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 385-408.
    4. Bennmarker, Helge & Skans, Oskar Nordström & Vikman, Ulrika, 2013. "Workfare for the old and long-term unemployed," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 25-34.
    5. Philip de Jong & Maarten Lindeboom & Bas van der Klaauw, 2011. "Screening Disability Insurance Applications," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(1), pages 106-129, February.
    6. Mike Brewer, 2007. "Welfare reform in the UK: 1997 - 2007," IFS Working Papers W07/20, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    7. Bart, COCKX & Muriel, DEJEMEPPE, 2007. "IIs the Notification of Monitoring a Threat to the Unemployed ? A Regression Discontinuity Approach," Discussion Papers (ECON - Département des Sciences Economiques) 2007016, Université catholique de Louvain, Département des Sciences Economiques.
    8. Brian Graversen & Brian Larsen, 2013. "Is there a threat effect of mandatory activation programmes for the long-term unemployed?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 1031-1051, April.
    9. repec:pri:cepsud:158krueger is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Anders Forslund & Alan Krueger, 2010. "Did Active Labor Market Policies Help Sweden Rebound from the Depression of the Early 1990s?," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 159-187, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Estevan, Fernanda & Baland, Jean-Marie, 2007. "Mortality risks, education and child labor," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 118-137, September.
    12. Marco Caliendo & Ricarda Schmidl, 2016. "Youth unemployment and active labor market policies in Europe," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-30, December.
    13. Lalive, Rafael, 2008. "How do extended benefits affect unemployment duration A regression discontinuity approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 142(2), pages 785-806, February.
    14. Anders Forslund & Alan Krueger, 2010. "Did Active Labor Market Policies Help Sweden Rebound from the Depression of the Early 1990s?," NBER Chapters, in: Reforming the Welfare State: Recovery and Beyond in Sweden, pages 159-187, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Katja Kaufmann & Luigi Pistaferri, 2009. "Disentangling Insurance and Information in Intertemporal Consumption Choices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(2), pages 387-392, May.
    16. Pekkarinen, Tuomas & Uusitalo, Roope & Pekkala Kerr, Sari, 2006. "Education Policy and Intergenerational Income Mobility: Evidence from the Finnish Comprehensive School Reform," IZA Discussion Papers 2204, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Mörk, Eva & Ottosson, Lillit & Vikman, Ulrika, 2021. "To work or not to work? Effects of temporary public employment on future employment and benefits," Working Paper Series 2021:12, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    18. Lundin, Daniela & Mörk, Eva & Öckert, Björn, 2007. "Do reduced child care prices make parents work more?," Working Paper Series 2007:2, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    19. Forslund, Anders, 2009. "Labour supply incentives, income support systems and taxes in Sweden," Working Paper Series 2009:30, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.

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    Keywords

    Youth unemployment; program evaluation; pre-program effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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