11: Activating Labour Market Policy – What Works and What Doesn’t?

The lectures by Karl Pichelmann will focus on macroeconomic and comparative analyses of labour market policies, whereas the focus of the lectures by Viktor Steiner will be on the microeconomic and social policy side. The presenters will also chair and lead off the discussion to each other s presentation.

TOPICS:

Key economic challenges in Europe  employment and productivity, demographics, globalization, and migration (Pichelmann / Steiner)
Literature: European Commission (1999), European Commission (2004)

The Lisbon strategy as a response to these challenges (Pichelmann)
Literature: Pichelmann/Roeger (2004), European Commission (2004)

Causes and cures of unemployment in the European Union, and the role of labour market policy – micro and macro perspectives (Steiner / Pichelmann)
Literature: Martin/Grubb (2001), European Commission (1999)

In-work tax credits to increase work incentives in the low-wage sector: The Earned Income Tax Credit and European alternatives (Steiner / Pichelmann)
Literature: Eissa/Hoynes (2004), Meyer (2002), OECD (2003)

Subsidizing social security contributions in the low-wage sector – the German Mini-Jobs reform and the experience of other EU countries (Steiner / Pichelmann)
Literature: Steiner/Wrohlich (2005), OECD (2005), European Commission ???

Work incentives and social welfare reform (Steiner)
Literature: Steiner (2004), Immervoll et al. (2004)

READING LIST:

Eissa, N., H. Hoynes (2004), Taxes and the labor market participation of married couples. the earned income tax credit; Journal of Public Economics, 88, 1931 1958.

European Commission (1999), “European Unemployment: Origins and Challenges”, in: The EU Economy: 1999 Review, European Economy No. 69, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

European Commission (2002), “Economic and financial market consequences of ageing populations”, in: The EU Economy: 2002 Review, European Economy n° 6/2002, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

European Commission (2004), “Labour markets in the EU: an economic analysis of recent performance and prospects” The EU Economy: 2004 Review, European Economy n° 6/2004, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

European Commission (2005), Rising International Economic Integration: Opportunities and Challenges. The EU Economy: 2005 Review, European Economy n° 6/2005, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs.

Immervoll, H., H. Kleven, C. T. Kreiner, E. Saez (2004), Welfare reform in European countries: a micro simulation analysis, CEPR Discussion Paper No. 4324, London.

Martin, J.P., D. Grubb (2001), What works and for whom: a review of OECD countries experiences with active labour market policies, IFAU Working Paper 2001:14.

Meyer, B. (2002): Labor supply at the extensive and intensive margins: The EITC, welfare, and hours worked, American Economic Review, 92(2), 373-379.

Pichelmann, K. (2003), “Wage developments in the early years of EMU”, in: Fagan, G. F.P. Mongelli and J. Morgan (eds.), Institutions and Wage Formation in the New Europe, Edward Elgar, 98-111.

Pichelmann, K. and W. Roeger (2004), “The EU Growth Strategy and the Impact of Aging”, Review of International Economics 12 (2), 213-232.

Steiner, V. (2004), Social Welfare Reform and the Low-Wage Labor Market in Germany: What Works and What Doesn t, Applied Economics Quarterly Supplement, 55, 57-78.

Steiner, V., K. Wrohlich (2005), Work Incentives and Labor Supply Effects of the  Mini-Jobs Reform in Germany, Empirica, 32, 91-116.