This paper reviews the development of temporary agency work after its deregulation in the context of the so-called Hartz reforms in Germany. The new role of agency work emerges from its enormous growth after deregulation, the intense use of agency work by big stock-listed companies and upcoming...

In Germany, long-term care is an important issue due to an aging population and shrinking social networks that result in a greater need for a public long-term care system. In 1995, the social long-term care insurance was introduced in Germany. Long-term care insurance funds are generally linked...

Job placement vouchers can be regarded as a tool to spur competition between public and private job placement activities. The German government launched this instrument in order to end the public placement monopoly and to subsidize its private competitors. We exploit very rich administrative...

In diesem Beitrag wird ein vom Bundesministerium für Arbeit bezuschusstes Modellprojekt - die Mannheimer Arbeitsvermittlungsagentur (MAVA) - mit Hilfe von Matching-Methoden untersucht. In der MAVA arbeiten Mitarbeiter des Sozial- und Arbeitsamts eng bei der Vermittlung arbeitsfähiger...

The number of long-term unemployed in Germany has stagnated at around one million for several years. Despite excellent labour market conditions, the long-term unemployment rate is well above the OECD average. Therefore, the "carrot and stick" principle of Hartz reforms is in clear need of...