Mixing Apples with Oranges? Partisanship and Active Labour Market Policies in Europe

Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 3-20, February 2013

31 Pages Posted: 26 Jan 2013 Last revised: 17 Apr 2016

See all articles by Tim Vlandas

Tim Vlandas

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - European Institute

Date Written: January 25, 2013

Abstract

There are competing theoretical expectations and conflicting empirical results concerning the impact of partisanship on spending on active labour market policies (ALMPs). This paper argues that one should distinguish between different ALMPs. Employment incentives and rehabilitation programmes incentivize the unemployed to accept jobs. Direct job creation reduces the supply of labour by creating non-commercial jobs. Training schemes raise the human capital of the unemployed. Using regression analysis this paper shows that the positions of political parties towards these three types of ALMPs are different. Party preferences also depend on the welfare regime in which parties are located. In Scandinavia, left-wing parties support neither employment incentives nor direct job creation schemes. In continental and Liberal welfare regimes, left-wing parties oppose employment incentives and rehabilitation programmes to a lesser extent and they support direct job creation. There is no impact of partisanship on training. These results reconcile the previously contradictory findings concerning the impact of the Left on ALMPs.

Keywords: active labour market policies, insider/outsider theory, partisanship, social democracy, welfare state regimes

Suggested Citation

Vlandas, Tim, Mixing Apples with Oranges? Partisanship and Active Labour Market Policies in Europe (January 25, 2013). Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 23, No. 1, pp. 3-20, February 2013, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2206900

Tim Vlandas (Contact Author)

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - European Institute

Oxford, Oxfordshire OX2
United Kingdom

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