IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izapps/pp66.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Youth Unemployment in Belgium: Diagnosis and Key Remedies

Author

Listed:
  • Cockx, Bart

    (Ghent University)

Abstract

In Belgium youth unemployment is structurally higher than the European (EU27) average, in particular for the low educated. In this study we set a diagnosis of the main structural factors and advance key remedies. We analyze the system of employment protection, education and passive and active labor market policies. A high minimum wage, a strict separation between school and work, and a vertically segmented schooling system with high retention rates and too early tracking are identified as main causal factors. Strict employment protection legislation is only concern for high-skilled youth. Reducing labor costs at low wages and a fundamental schooling reform that aims at dismantling the strict barrier between school and work are proposed as key remedies. In addition, youth should be entitled as of the start of unemployment to a low benefit based on the principle of “mutual obligation”. Very intensive and durable guidance is to be targeted to the low educated.

Suggested Citation

  • Cockx, Bart, 2013. "Youth Unemployment in Belgium: Diagnosis and Key Remedies," IZA Policy Papers 66, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izapps:pp66
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/pp66.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baert, Stijn & Cockx, Bart, 2013. "Pure ethnic gaps in educational attainment and school to work transitions: When do they arise?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 276-294.
    2. Piopiunik, Marc, 2014. "The effects of early tracking on student performance: Evidence from a school reform in Bavaria," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 12-33.
    3. Schwerdt, Guido & West, Martin R. & Winters, Marcus A., 2017. "The effects of test-based retention on student outcomes over time: Regression discontinuity evidence from Florida," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 154-169.
    4. François Rycx & Stephan Kampelmann, 2013. "Who Earns Minimum Wages in Europe? New Evidence Based on Household Surveys," DULBEA Working Papers 13-01, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    5. Cockx, Bart & Van der Linden, Bruno, 2009. "Flexicurity in Belgium: A Proposal Based on Economic Principles," IZA Policy Papers 9, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. David Card & Jochen Kluve & Andrea Weber, 2010. "Active Labour Market Policy Evaluations: A Meta-Analysis," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(548), pages 452-477, November.
    7. Kramarz, Francis & Philippon, Thomas, 2001. "The impact of differential payroll tax subsidies on minimum wage employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 115-146, October.
    8. Cockx, Bart & Dejemeppe, Muriel, 2012. "Monitoring job search effort: An evaluation based on a regression discontinuity design," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5), pages 729-737.
    9. Bart Cockx & Matteo Picchio, 2013. "Scarring effects of remaining unemployed for long-term unemployed school-leavers," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 176(4), pages 951-980, October.
    10. Bart Cockx & Matteo Picchio, 2012. "Are Short-lived Jobs Stepping Stones to Long-Lasting Jobs?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 74(5), pages 646-675, October.
    11. Stijn Baert & Bart Cockx & Niels Gheyle & Cora Vandamme, 2013. "Do Employers Discriminate Less if Vacancies are Difficult to Fill? Evidence from a Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 4093, CESifo.
    12. Zimmermann, Klaus F. & Biavaschi, Costanza & Eichhorst, Werner & Giulietti, Corrado & Kendzia, Michael J. & Muravyev, Alexander & Pieters, Janneke & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria & Schmidl, Ricarda, 2013. "Youth Unemployment and Vocational Training," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 9(1–2), pages 1-157, December.
    13. Peter Z. Schochet & John Burghardt & Sheena McConnell, 2008. "Does Job Corps Work? Impact Findings from the National Job Corps Study," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1864-1886, December.
    14. Bart Cockx & Bruno Van der Linden, 2010. "Flexicurity in Belgium: A reform proposal based on economic principles," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 149(3), pages 361-372, September.
    15. repec:mpr:mprres:6097 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Bruno Van der Linden, 2007. "Un regard sur le rapport de l'OCDE : Des emplois pour les jeunes," Regards économiques 56, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cockx, Bart & Ghirelli, Corinna, 2016. "Scars of recessions in a rigid labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 162-176.
    2. Marie Duvivier & Maritza López-Novella, 2015. "Working Paper 10-15 - The relationship between unemployment duration and education - The case of school leavers in Belgium," Working Papers 1510, Federal Planning Bureau, Belgium.
    3. Oğuz Başol & Hüseyin Sevgi & Esin Cumhur Yalçın, 2023. "The Effect of Digitalization on Youth Unemployment for EU Countries: Treat or Threat?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Bruno Van der Linden & Vincent Bodart & Muriel Dejemeppe, 2018. "The labor market in Belgium, 2000–2016," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 428-428, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cockx, Bart & Ghirelli, Corinna, 2016. "Scars of recessions in a rigid labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 162-176.
    2. Eichhorst, Werner & Rinne, Ulf, 2016. "Promoting Youth Employment in Europe: Evidence-based Policy Lessons," IZA Policy Papers 119, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pierre Cahuc & Stéphane Carcillo & Ulf Rinne & Klaus Zimmermann, 2013. "Youth unemployment in old Europe: the polar cases of France and Germany," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Jahn, Elke Jutta & Rosholm, Michael, 2015. "The Cyclicality of the Stepping Stone Effect of Temporary Agency Employment," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113117, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Massimiliano Bratti & Corinna Ghirelli & Enkelejda Havari & Giulia Santangelo, 2022. "Vocational training for unemployed youth in Latvia," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 677-717, April.
    6. Jahn, Elke J. & Rosholm, Michael, 2014. "Looking beyond the bridge: The effect of temporary agency employment on labor market outcomes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 108-125.
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/7k0plsobem9tuo09eg04jujb9a is not listed on IDEAS
    8. María laura Alzúa & Guillermo Cruces & Carolina Lopez, 2016. "Long-Run Effects Of Youth Training Programs: Experimental Evidence From Argentina," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(4), pages 1839-1859, October.
    9. Albanese, Andrea & Picchio, Matteo & Ghirelli, Corinna, 2020. "Timed to Say Goodbye: Does Unemployment Benefit Eligibility Affect Worker Layoffs?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Alexander Gelber & Adam Isen & Judd B. Kessler, 2014. "The Effects of Youth Employment: Evidence from New York City Summer Youth Employment Program Lotteries," NBER Working Papers 20810, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Xu Qin & Jonah Deutsch & Guanglei Hong, 2021. "Unpacking Complex Mediation Mechanisms And Their Heterogeneity Between Sites In A Job Corps Evaluation," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(1), pages 158-190, January.
    12. Jonathan M.V. Davis & Sara B. Heller, 2017. "Rethinking the Benefits of Youth Employment Programs: The Heterogeneous Effects of Summer Jobs," NBER Working Papers 23443, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. 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.
    14. Bergemann, Annette & Pohlan, Laura & Uhlendorff, Arne, 2016. "Job Creation Schemes in Turbulent Times," IZA Discussion Papers 10369, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Kluve, Jochen & Puerto, Susanna & Robalino, David & Romero, José Manuel & Rother, Friederike & Stöterau, Jonathan & Weidenkaff, Felix & Witte, Marc, 2016. "Do Youth Employment Programs Improve Labor Market Outcomes? A Systematic Review," Ruhr Economic Papers 648, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    16. 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.
    17. Cerulli-Harms, Annette, 2017. "Generation Internship: The Impact of Internships on Early Labour Market Performance," IZA Discussion Papers 11163, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Muller, Paul & van der Klaauw, Bas & Heyma, Arjan, 2017. "Comparing Econometric Methods to Empirically Evaluate Job-Search Assistance," IZA Discussion Papers 10531, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Arni, Patrick & Schiprowski, Amelie, 2016. "Strengthening Enforcement in Unemployment Insurance: A Natural Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 10353, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Kugler Franziska & Schwerdt Guido & Wößmann Ludger, 2014. "Ökonometrische Methoden zur Evaluierung kausaler Effekte der Wirtschaftspolitik," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 15(2), pages 105-132, June.
    21. Picchio, Matteo, 2012. "Lagged duration dependence in mixed proportional hazard models," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 108-110.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    youth unemployment; employment protection; education; active and passive labor market policies; Belgium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izapps:pp66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.