Activation programs, such as job search assistance, training, or work experience programs for unemployed workers, typically initially produce negative employment effects. These so-called “lock-in effects” occur because participants spend less time and effort on job search activities than...

Labour market institutions are deemed to have a great influence on the level and structure of employment. This holds for regulation on employment protection, minimum wages or tax/benefit systems as well as active labour market policies. This is why policy makers implement labour market reforms...

After the apparent rise of so‐called atypical and 'precarious' jobs, the quality of employment has become of interest because such employment relationships are often related to objectively or subjectively worse working conditions. In this paper we look in detail into what is known about job...

This contribution draws some conclusions from the experience of attempts by the German government at integrating the most vulnerable groups into the labor market, in particular the long-term unemployed and the low skilled. There has been a sort of paradigm shift that goes beyond active labor...