Digitization has spurred interest in the potential of statistical profiling to improve the targeting of active labor market policies. Despite growing adoption, empirical evidence on the effectiveness of such profiling in program allocation is scarce. We evaluate a semi-automated statistical...

Public works programmes (PWPs) are widely used social protection instruments in low- and middle-income countries. Participants carry out temporary, labour-intensive works in exchange for cash or in-kind compensation. The available empirical evidence indicates that these programmes are usually...

The objectives of the Work Programme 2025 are aligned with the BEREC Strategy 2021-2025, and its three high-level priorities (promoting full connectivity, supporting sustainable and open digital markets, and empowering end-users), and the priorities set for institutional and international...

The objectives of the Work Programme 2025 are aligned with the BEREC Strategy 2021-2025, and its three high-level priorities (promoting full connectivity, supporting sustainable and open digital markets, and empowering end-users), and the priorities set for institutional and international...

We evaluate a non-targeted summer youth employment program (SYEP) for high school students aged 16-19 in Stockholm, Sweden, where public sector job offers were as good as randomly assigned. In contrast to previous studies evaluating SYEP that targeted groups with lower socioeconomic status, we...

We evaluate a non-targeted summer youth employment program (SYEP) for high school students aged 16-19 in Stockholm, Sweden, where public sector job offers were as good as randomly assigned. In contrast to previous studies evaluating SYEP that targeted groups with lower socioeconomic status, we...

There is still a lack of knowledge on how to effectively help the long-term unemployed into employment. We evaluate a wide range of active labour market policies for this target group, using a dynamic matching approach. Measures vary considerably in the extent to which they improve labour market...

We assess how one of the largest public works programmes in the world-Ethiopia's Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP)-affected violent conflict and civil unrest. Using difference-in-differences methods and linking administrative and geocoded conflict event data, we find that the PSNP did not...

We evaluate a guaranteed job program launched in 2020 in Austria. Our evaluation is based on three approaches, pairwise matched randomization, a pre-registered synthetic control at the municipality level, and a comparison to individuals in control municipalities. This allows us to estimate...

We evaluate a guaranteed job program launched in 2020 in Austria. Our evaluation is based on three approaches, pairwise matched randomization, a pre-registered synthetic control at the municipality level, and a comparison to individuals in control municipalities. This allows us to estimate...

During a period of COVID-19-induced job losses and mobility restrictions, the government of Colombia's launched Empléate, an innovative Pay-for-performance (P4P) program that targeted impoverished and vulnerable workers. Empléate operated at a national scale and had a novel financial...

We evaluate a guaranteed job program launched in 2020 in Austria. Our evaluation is based on three approaches, pairwise matched randomization, a pre-registered synthetic control at the municipality level, and a comparison to individuals in control municipalities. This allows us to estimate...

We evaluate a guaranteed job program launched in 2020 in Austria. Our evaluation is based on three approaches, pairwise matched randomization, a pre-registered synthetic control at the municipality level, and a comparison to individuals in control municipalities. This allows us to estimate...

The BEREC Work Programme 2024 sets out the priorities that the Board of Regulators has identified for 2024. These areas may be complemented by other emerging topics of interest during the year. The objectives of this Work Programme are based on the BEREC Strategy 2021-2025, with a close focus on...

Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced Public Works Programmes (PWPs) to fight poverty. PWPs provide temporary cash-for-work opportunities to boost poor households' incomes and to provide better infrastructure to local communities. While PWPs do not target children directly, the...

Policy makers increasingly emphasise the importance of setting up social protection systems to ensure coordination of intersectoral efforts. We contribute to the literature on social protection systems by examining convergence between large-scale self-help group (SHG) and public works...

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of social protection programs in mitigating labor market shocks. We examine the role of one of the world’s largest employment guarantee schemes, India’s MG-NREGA, in cushioning job losses in one of the worst affected economies due to the...

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was envisaged as a gender sensitive legislation to provide a fair opportunity to women from rural India to earn without any discrimination of gender. In terms of national averages the scheme under the act has achieved its target...

This paper analyses the extent to which the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) impacted children’s education The paper achieves this goal by exploring and comparing various different research papers on the implementation of MGNREGA. The findings of this paper...

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, later renamed as “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act” (MGNREGA) is an Act which guarantees the “right to work” in rural India. MGNREGA in its framework has provisions for creation of durable rural assets with the...

Started as a pilot in 200 of the poorest districts of India in February 2006, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is a demand-based public works programme which entitles every rural household in India to 100 days of waged employment. MGNREGA envisages women’s...

Many low- and middle-income countries have introduced Public Works Programmes (PWPs) to fight poverty. PWPs provide temporary cash-for-work opportunities to boost poor households' incomes and to provide better infrastructure to local communities. While PWPs do not target children directly, the...

In our study, we set out to present the characteristics of public workers between 2011 and 2019 based on the comprehensive and anonymous administrative database of the Hungarian State Treasury (MÁK). During the years under review, altogether 676 thousand people were involved in the programme....

Recent policy discussions have proposed government-guaranteed jobs, including for youth. One key potential benefit of youth employment is a reduction in criminal justice contact. Prior work on summer youth employment programs has documented little-to-no effect of the program on crime during the...

This paper evaluates a 90-day hiring subsidy designed for young jobseekers aged below 25, introduced in Hungary in 2015 as part of the Youth Guarantee programme. The subsidy covers the total wage cost with no obligation to retain the new hire when the subsidy expires. The analysis is based on...

Following the COVID-19 lockdown, the UK labour market faces much higher unemployment and reductions in labour force participation. Such measures as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the Self-employment Income Support Scheme served a useful purpose, but governments cannot keep businesses...

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the potential of social protection programs in mitigating labor market shocks. We examine the role of one of the world's largest employment guarantee schemes, India's MG-NREGA, in cushioning job losses in one of the worst affected economies due to the...

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) was introduced in 2006 by the Government of India to provide 100 days’ assurance employment for the poor rural citizen to make their employment security. The Mahatma Gandhi NREGA sponsors various schemes for helping rural...

Workfare programs are one of the most popular social protection and employment policy instruments in the developing world. They evoke the promise of efficient targeting, as well as immediate and lasting impacts on participants’ employment, earnings, skills and behaviors. This paper evaluates...

The high incidence of temporary agency employment among participants in government employment programs has catalyzed debate about whether these jobs help the poor transition into stable employment and out of poverty. We provide direct evidence on this question through analysis of a Michigan...

The job guarantee is a viable policy option for tackling both unemployment and underemployment. Hyman P. Minsky was one of the seminal writers on this subject. The first part of this working paper provides a survey of Minsky's writings to identify what kind of jobs he had in mind when...