Activation and active labour market policies in OECD countries: Stylised facts and evidence on their effectiveness

Activation policies aimed at getting working-age people off benefits and into work have become a buzzword in labour market policies. Yet they are defined and implemented differently across OECD countries, and their success rates vary too. The Great Recession has posed a severe stress test for these...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIZA journal of labor policy Vol. 4; no. 1; pp. 1 - 29
Main Author Martin, John P
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Heidelberg Springer 28.02.2015
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Walter de Gruyter GmbH
BioMed Central Ltd
Subjects
Activation
Active labour market policies
Benefit conditionality
Economic conditions
Economic models
Economic Policy
Economic statistics
Economic theory
Economics
Economics and Finance
Employment
Employment agencies
Expenditures
Global economy
Great Recession
Hiring subsidies
International
Job hunting
Labor Economics
Labor force
Labor market
Macroeconomics
Original Article
Population Economics
Recessions
Social Policy
Studies
Trends
Unemployment
Unemployment insurance
Weather
Activation
Unemployment insurance
Active labour market policies
Great Recession
Benefit conditionality
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Summary:Activation policies aimed at getting working-age people off benefits and into work have become a buzzword in labour market policies. Yet they are defined and implemented differently across OECD countries, and their success rates vary too. The Great Recession has posed a severe stress test for these policies, with some commentators arguing that they are at best "fair weather" policies. This paper sheds light on these issues mainly via the lens of recent OECD research. It presents the stylised facts on how OECD countries have responded to the Great Recession in terms of ramping up their spending on active labour market policies (ALMPs), a key component in any activation strategy. It then reviews the macroeconomic evidence on the impact of ALMPs on employment and unemployment rates. This is followed by a review of the key lessons from recent OECD country reviews of activation policies. It concludes with a discussion of crucial unanswered questions about activation.
ISSN:2193-9004
2193-9004
DOI:10.1186/s40173-015-0032-y