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Choosing from the Reform Menu Card: Individual Determinants of Labour Market Policy Preferences

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  • Hennighausen, Tanja
  • Bischoff, Ivo
  • Heinemann, Friedrich

Abstract

This contribution empirically explores the drivers of labour market reform acceptance for the individual level in Germany. For that purpose we make use of the representative German General Social Survey (ALLBUS). This survey offers data to which extent individuals support benefit cuts, longer working years, cutting subsidies to declining industries, phasing out of employment programmes or a liberalisation of employment protection. Our theoretical considerations suggest that self-interest, information, fairness judgements, economic beliefs and other individual factors such as socialisation under the communist regime in the former German Democratic Republic drive individual reform preferences. Our empirical results support this notion: While we find self-interest to be an important driving force, our results show that a number of factors well beyond the narrow scope of self-interest strongly shape individual reform preferences.

Suggested Citation

  • Hennighausen, Tanja & Bischoff, Ivo & Heinemann, Friedrich, 2009. "Choosing from the Reform Menu Card: Individual Determinants of Labour Market Policy Preferences," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-004, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:7530
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    Cited by:

    1. Athina Economou & Christos Kollias, 2019. "Security policy preferences of EU citizens: Do terrorist events affect them?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 445-471, March.
    2. Dlugosz, Stephan & Stephan, Gesine & Wilke, Ralf A., 2009. "Fixing the leak: unemployment incidence before and after the 2006 reform of unemployment benefits in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 09-079, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Dlugosz, Stephan & Stephan, Gesine & Wilke, Ralf A., 2009. "Verkürzte Bezugsdauern für Arbeitslosengeld: Deutliche Effekte auf die Eintritte in Arbeitslosigkeit (The 2006 reform of unemployment benefit entitlement lengths in Germany: considerable effects on en," IAB-Kurzbericht 200930, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    4. Hans Pitlik & Gerhard Schwarz & Barbara Bechter & Bernd Brandl, 2011. "Near Is My Shirt but Nearer Is My Skin: Ideology or Self‐Interest as Determinants of Public Opinion on Fiscal Policy Issues," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 271-290, May.
    5. Tabea Bucher†Koenen & Bettina Lamla†Dietrich, 2018. "The Long Shadow of Socialism: Puzzling Evidence on East†West German Differences in Financial Literacy," Economic Notes, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA, vol. 47(2-3), pages 413-438, July.
    6. Stiftung Familienunternehmen (ed.), 2012. "Der Weg zu einer "Agenda 2030": Reformen zwischen objektiver Notwendigkeit und individueller Verweigerung," ZEW Expertises, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, number 110562.
    7. Theocharis Grigoriadis & Friedrich Heinemann, 2013. "Origins of Reform Resistance and the Southern European Regime. WWWforEurope Working Paper No. 20," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 46881, April.
    8. Vaubel Roland, 2010. "Freiheit in Deutschland: Wettbewerb der Staaten, Einfluss der Kirche, amerikanisches Erbe – Versuch einer historischen Erklärung – / Freedom in Germany: Interjurisdictional Competition, the Influence ," ORDO. Jahrbuch für die Ordnung von Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 61(1), pages 53-74, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    labour market reform; economic beliefs; fairness preferences; ALLBUS;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A13 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Social Values
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • C42 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Survey Methods

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