Do Institutions Make a Difference? Financing Systems of Labor Market Policy

Bibliographic Data

ID6296530
AuthorsGunther Schmid (WZB Berlin Social Science Center), Bernd Reissert (WZB Berlin Social Science Center)
Year1988
Volume8
Issue2
Pages125-149
Publication date1988-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Public Policy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0143-814X • E-ISSN: 1469-7815
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0143814x00006954
OpenAlexW2102767794
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited16

In recent years the hopes of finding a solution for the puzzle of mass unemployment shifted to labor market institutions such as the system of regulation and industrial relations. The following study takes up a much neglected aspect of labor market institutions, the issue of financing labor market policy. After developing the analytical framework, the systems of financing labor market policy in six countries are briefly described. Next are analyzed the effects of different financing systems on expenditures for active labor market policy – as an essential element in fighting unemployment. Financial systems, however, influence not only the level but also the structure of labor market policy which in turn has implications for its allocational and distributional effects. Finally, some lessons are drawn from the international comparison, the main thesis is illustrated by the German case. Institutional incongruity, i.e. a mismatch between organizational structures and functions, may have two effects, leading political decision makers to behave in a generally unexpected way, and channelling the effects of political programmes in unintended directions

Economics · German · Labor relations · Labour economics · Macroeconomics · Political science · Politics · Secondary labor market · Unemployment · Unintended consequences · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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