"This paper provides an overview of the sequential shift towards activating labour market and social policy in Germany. It not only shows the changes in the instruments of active and passives labour market policies but also analyzes the implications of this change for the political economy, the...

"This paper provides an overview of the sequential shift towards activating labour market and social policy in Germany. It not only shows the changes in the instruments of active and passives labour market policies but also analyzes the implications of this change for the political economy, the...

This paper provides an overview of the sequential shift towards activating labour market and social policy in Germany. It not only shows the changes in the instruments of active and passives labour market policies but also analyzes the implications of this change for the political economy, the...

"Based on the two IAB establishment surveys - the IAB Establishment Panel and the IAB Job Vacancy Survey - this report sheds light on the German labour market from the firms' perspective and gives information about the labour demand and resulting skills shortages for the years 2006 to 2012. With...

"From a social policy perspective, single parents - for the most part single mothers - are an important target group. Being solely in charge of both providing for the family's livelihood as well as parental care, the extent to which they can be gainfully employed is often restricted. Their...

"In 2003, Germany moved from a system in which participants in training programs for the unemployed are assigned by caseworkers to an allocation system using vouchers. Based on the rich administrative data for all vouchers and on actual program participation, we provide inverse probability...

"Unions are often stigmatized as being a source of inefficiency due to higher collective bargaining outcomes. This is in stark contrast with the descriptive evidence presented in this paper. Larger firms choose to export and are also more likely to adopt collective bargaining. We rationalize...

"A major unemployment and welfare benefit reform took place in Germany in 2005. One objective of this reform was to more strongly encourage an adult worker model of the family, with an emphasis on activating the formerly inactive. Our hypothesis is, however, that assignments to activation...

"The pilot project 'Berliner Joboffensive' (BJO) aimed at increasing the number of labor market integrations of individuals receiving means-tested unemployment benefits II (also known as Hartz IV) by intensified counseling and assistance. To this end, the caseload of 650 caseworkers in twelve...

"This report presents results from a qualitative study on the implementation of a startup subsidy for unemployed welfare recipients (the so-called 'Einstiegsgeld'). Our central findings are: - After the introduction of Einstiegsgeld in 2005 the inflow into the start-up subsidy reached an early...