Active labor market policies (ALMPs) are found in almost all countries of the world but differ in amplitude, design, and implementation. Comprising an array of measures, ALMPs can take the form of special support for job searching, training and education for the unemployed, and various other subsidies and job creation activities. While providing a valuable overview of the nature of these policies, this book examines some of the pitfalls and challenges countries face when evaluating them. It also provides a policy framework for designing ALMPs that are permanent yet adaptable instruments to cope with changes linked to globalization. Contents Introduction Historical background of ALMPs Definition and functions of ALMPs Contribution of ALMPs to the objectives of employment creation, security in change, equity and poverty reduction Differences in the utilization of ALMPs: Developed, transition and developing countries Evaluation of ALMPs New trends in ALMPs Conclusions: A framework for the management of change Bibliography

Using panel data for 15 industrial countries, active labor market policies (ALMPs) are shown to have raised employment rates in the business sector in the 1990s, after controlling for many institutions, country-specific effects, and economic variables. Among such policies, direct subsidies to job creation were the most effective. ALMPs also affected employment rates by reducing real wages below levels allowed by technological growth, changes in the unemployment rate, and institutional and other economic factors. However, part of this wage moderation may be linked to a composition effect because policies were targeted to low-paid individuals. Whether ALMPs are cost-effective from a budgetary perspective remains to be determined, but they are certainly not substitutes for comprehensive institutional reforms.

This book revisits skills development policies and points to new directions for making training programs more effective and responsive in increasingly competitive labor market.

Jobs provide higher earnings and better benefits as countries grow, but they are also a driver of development. Poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empowering women lead to greater investments in children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs bring together people from different ethnic and social backgrounds and provide alternatives to conflict. Jobs are thus more than a byproduct of economic growth. They are transformational —they are what we earn, what we do, and even who we are. High unemployment and unmet job expectations among youth are the most immediate concerns. But in many developing countries, where farming and self-employment are prevalent and safety nets are modest are best, unemployment rates can be low. In these countries, growth is seldom jobless. Most of their poor work long hours but simply cannot make ends meet. And the violation of basic rights is not uncommon. Therefore, the number of jobs is not all that matters: jobs with high development payoffs are needed. Confronted with these challenges, policy makers ask difficult questions. Should countries build their development strategies around growth, or should they focus on jobs? Can entrepreneurship be fostered, especially among the many microenterprises in developing countries, or are entrepreneurs born? Are greater investments in education and training a prerequisite for employability, or can skills be built through jobs? In times of major crises and structural shifts, should jobs, not just workers, be protected? And is there a risk that policies supporting job creation in one country will come at the expense of jobs in other countries? The World Development Report 2013: Jobs offers answers to these and other difficult questions by looking at jobs as drivers of development—not as derived labor demand—and by considering all types of jobs—not just formal wage employment. The Report provides a framework that cuts across sectors and shows that the best policy responses vary across countries, depending on their levels of development, endowments, demography, and institutions. Policy fundamentals matter in all cases, as they enable a vibrant private sector, the source of most jobs in the world. Labor policies can help as well, even if they are less critical than is often assumed. Development policies, from making smallholder farming viable to fostering functional cities to engaging in global markets, hold the key to success.

Measures of Active Labor Market Policy - such as training, wage subsidies, public employment measures, and job search assistance - are widely used in European countries to combat unemployment. This study provides novel insight on this important policy issue by discussing the role of the European Commission's Employment Strategy, reviewing the experiences made in European states, and giving the first ever quantitative assessment of the existing cross-country evidence.

This report provides an overview of global and regional trends in employment, unemployment, labour force participation and productivity, as well as dimensions of job quality such as employment status, informal employment and working poverty. It also examines income and social developments, and provides an indicator of social unrest. Key findings are that are unemployment is projected to rise after a long period of stability, and that many people are working fewer paid hours than they would like or lack adequate access to paid work. The report also takes a close look at decent work deficits and persistent labour market inequalities, noting that income inequality is higher than previously thought.

The issue of who is or is not in an employment relationship has become problematic in recent decades as a result of major changes in work organization as well as in the adequacy of legal regulation in adapting to such changes. In different parts of the world there is increasing difficulty in establishing whether or not an employment relationship exists in situations where the respective rights and obligations of the parties concerned are not clear, where there has been an attempt to disguise the employment relationship, or where inadequacies or gaps exist in the legal framework or in its interpretation or application. Vulnerable workers appear to suffer most in these situations. At the same time, social partners and labour administrators have emphasized that globalization has increased the need for protection against circumvention of national labour legislation by contractual and/or other legal arrangements. The employment relationship is under ever-closer scrutiny, not only by labour lawyers, but also by workers, employers and the judiciary. Changes in the world of work have modified traditional notions of the employment relationship. These changes in the 'standard employment relationship' shape the scope of protection and application of labour legislation and automatically affect the way labour law is implemented. This book presents the ways the scope of labour legislation applies to the realm of the employment relationship. Terms, notions, definitions, laws and practice in the various regions of the world are herein reported.

Since 1945, socially moderated market economies have formed the cornerstone of the European socioeconomic model. Now, however due to powerful global economic, political and demographic tendencies tensions between social and economic interests and values are increasing. These developments create an urgent need for answers, actions and measures on the European level. This wide-ranging but focused collection of essays approaches this important trend from multiple perspectives. Compiled in honour of the major European labour law scholar Teun Jaspers, it encompasses a broad spectrum of analyses and insights by forty-one distinguished contributors from seven countries. Four major tensions are identified: between the European and national level, between fundamental rights and economic freedoms, between workers and employers, and between soft and hard law instruments. Throughout, a comparative approach is emphasized, not only within the EU but also between the EU and China and South Africa. Among the many topics covered are the following: relocation of labour to low-wage countries both within and outside the EU; conditions for tempering the excesses of the free labour market; the legal weight of voluntary standards such as codes of conduct; extending the scope of application of corporate social responsibility norms to transnational enterprises; pressure on national social law due to flexibilization, deregulation and individualization; contract termination protection; employability and training of employees; fixed-term work in the wake of the Mangold ruling; adjustment of working conditions for ill and disabled workers; right to strike; and restructuring of enterprises. In light of the Lisbon strategy, the authors address how the various tensions should be reconciled, especially in the context of the flexicurity approach. The book will be of great interest to academics and practitioners for its clear categorization of the issues which must be overcome when regulating employment and social policy in the context of todayand’s EU multilevel legal order. It pays detailed attention to the legal questions raised by emerging European labour and employment policies in respect of their specific materialization, the opportunities they offer, their feasibility, and the threats they pose to traditional workerand’s protection and, more generally, to traditional concepts of labour law.