Effekte von Vermittlerhandeln und Vermittlerstrategien im SGB II und SGB III (Pilotstudie) : Abschlussbericht an das IAB durch das Institut für Angewandte Wirtschaftsforschung e. V. (IAW), Tübingen

"This pilot study examines the question of how different strategies and attitudes of caseworkers in German job offices influence the chances of re-employment of the job seekers they counsel. We use data from a standardised survey among caseworkers that we combine with administrative data of the Federal Employment Agency (FEA). The descriptive results show that there are many similarities between the two legal systems, i. e. the unemployment insure system (Social Code III) and the basic income support (Social Code II). This involves, for example, the allocation of measures of active labour market policies (ALMP), the differentiation of types of job seekers, the profiling and the perceived amount of discretion. Moreover, there are only minor differences when we focus on the design of integration agreements. In both legal systems, the caseworkers stress the importance of sustainable re-integration into regular employment, caseworkers under Social Code II also consider the stabilisation of the customers' personal situation important, their colleagues under Social Code III highlight rapid re-integration into work. Besides being 'counsellors' for the unemployed, caseworkers under Social Code II often see themselves as 'social workers'. We conduct impact analyses for Social Code using the statistical matching approach. We show that caseworkers who stress the importance of rapid re-integration into work and counsel with high orientation towards the labour market and with low personal orientation achieve significant higher outflows from unemployment in the short run than those who do not. Caseworkers who stress the importance of internal regulations concerning allocation of measures achieve higher chances of re-employment for their job seekers, but only in the first months of unemployment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))