Since the early 1990s, when France's general government deficit reached a disturbing 6 per cent of GDP, the country's public finances have progressed substantially, even though significantly further improvement is required. This paper examines the tools available to policy-makers to meet this...

This paper proposes sequential matching and inverse selection probability weighting to estimate dynamic causal effects. The sequential matching estimators extend simple, matching estimators based on propensity scores for static causal analysis that have been frequently applied in the evaluation...

Between 1991 and 1997 West Germany spent on average about 3.6 bn Euro per year on public sector sponsored training programmes for the unemployed. We base our empirical analysis on a new administrative data base that plausibly allows for selectivity correction by microeconometric matching...

In Belgium unemployment insurance benefits can only exhaust for one category of workers: partners of workers with (replacement) labour income (mostly women) may loose their entitlement after an unemployment duration ranging from two to eight years, depending on individual characteristics. We...

In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of educational programmes used as an employment strategy for disabled workers in Norway. To obtain these estimates we follow the employment career of a sample of participants in educational programmes and nonparticipants three years after they had left...

In this paper, we investigate the impact of classroom training programmes on individual unemployment rates in Denmark. In 1994 a social experiment was conducted, where unemployed applicants for labour market training were randomised into treatment and control groups. We formulate and estimate...

This paper analyses the Hungarian public expenditure system and develops policy-oriented recommendations for its improvement. Despite substantial progress achieved in the management of public finances over the 1990s, the level of public expenditure and taxation relative to national income has...

This paper assesses the public expenditure system in Poland and the scope for its reform. Though a number of important steps to control the future evolution of spending, such as pension reform and healthcare reform, have already made in Poland, much more needs to be done. Indeed budget...

Japan’s SME policies have reached a turning point. The traditional policy of “lifting up SMEs” has been changed into a more pro-competitive policy to foster entrepreneurship and innovation in SMEs. This paper evaluates this policy and the new innovation promotion schemes initiated by METI...

In this study the effects of various types of rehabilitation programmes on different labour market and health related outcomes are estimated. The main feature of this study, compared to previous research, is that it jointly evaluates multiple treatments by nonparametric matching estimators. The...