Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP2993
Authors: Michael Gerfin; Michael Lechner
Abstract: In the second half of the 1990s Switzerland introduced an ambitious active labour market policy (ALMP) encompassing a variety of programmes. We evaluate the effects of these programmes on individual employment probability using unusually informative data originating from administrative records. Using a matching estimator for multiple programmes, we find positive effects for one particular programme that is a unique feature of the Swiss ALMP. It consists of a wage subsidy for temporary jobs in the regular labour market that would otherwise not be taken up by the unemployed. We also find negative effects for traditional employment programmes operated in sheltered labour markets. For training courses the results are mixed.
Keywords: Balancing Score; Evaluation of Multiple Programmes; Matching; Swiss Labour Market; Treatment Effects; Unemployment
JEL Codes: C14; C40; H43; J64; J68
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| temporary wage subsidy programme (J68) | probability of employment (J68) |
| traditional employment programmes (J68) | probability of employment (J68) |
| vocational training (M53) | probability of employment (J68) |
| early participation in ALMPs (J68) | employment outcomes (J68) |