IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/iab/iabmit/v31i2p334-347.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Beschäftigungspolitisch erfolgreiche Länder : Konsequenzen für Deutschland (Experiences of countries with successful employment policy : consequences for Germany)

Author

Listed:
  • Walwei, Ulrich

Abstract

"In the USA, the UK, the Netherlands and Denmark the employment situation has improved decisively, especially in recent years. In addition there are indications of this positive development being sustained in these four countries. Even if the methods adopted by the 'successful countries' in order to achieve more employment and less unemployment can not simply be copied, they do provide important orientation aids for the selection and combination of strategies for tackling Germany's labour market problems. The aim of this report is above all to look at the proposals available for the German situation that are aimed at improving the labour market situation, to see them in the light of the 'success stories' and if necessary to amplify them. The starting point for the considerations is the IAB's set of strategies from 1996, which are based on simulation calculations. The central idea of the IAB proposals is that in view of the dimension of the employment problem, single instruments would be insufficient. The set of strategies thus consists of three components: - a reduction in the average annual working time, in particular by expanding part-time employment and reducing paid overtime work, - a moderate collective bargaining policy in wages, whose increase first remains behind the increase in productivity and also does not exceed it later on and - fiscal policy impulses by means of reductions in direct taxes and social security contributions in the context of a fixed schedule aimed at the medium-term consolidation of the budget as well as restructuring efforts in the public budget which have an effect on employment and are neutral in terms of revenue and expenditure. The experiences made by countries with successful employment policy confirm that the measures suggested for western Germany, which are broadly transferable to eastern Germany, stand up to a 'field test'. In addition to this the international experiences provide starting-points for adding to the IAB set of strategies - above all in such areas of policy that elude a quantitative simulation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Suggested Citation

  • Walwei, Ulrich, 1998. "Beschäftigungspolitisch erfolgreiche Länder : Konsequenzen für Deutschland (Experiences of countries with successful employment policy : consequences for Germany)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 31(2), pages 334-347.
    • Handle: RePEc:iab:iabmit:v:31:i:2:p:334-347
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doku.iab.de/mittab/1998/1998_2_MittAB_Walwei.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vierling, Michael, 1997. "Subventionierung des Lohnsatzes anstelle des Einkommens," Wirtschaftsdienst – Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik (1949 - 2007), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 77(11), pages 647-654.
    2. Nickell, Stephen & Bell, Brian, 1995. "The Collapse in Demand for the Unskilled and Unemployment across the OECD," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 40-62, Spring.
    3. Jerger Jürgen & Spermann Alexander, 1997. "Wege aus der Arbeitslosenfalle – ein Vergleich alternativer Lösungskonzepte," Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 46(1), pages 51-73, April.
    4. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Gustav-Adolf Horn & Jürgen Schupp & Get G. Wagner, 1996. "Keine Dienstleistungslücke in Deutschland: ein Vergleich mit den USA anhand von Haushaltsbefragungen," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 63(14), pages 221-226.
    5. John P. Haisken-DeNew & Gustav Adolf Horn & Jürgen Schupp & Gert G. Wagner, 1997. "Rückstand beim Anteil der Dienstleistungstätigkeiten aufgeholt: ein deutsch-amerikanischer Vergleich anhand von Haushaltsbefragungen," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 64(34), pages 613-617.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Walwei, Ulrich, 1998. "Beschäftigungspolitisch erfolgreiche Länder : Konsequenzen für Deutschland (Experiences of countries with successful employment policy : consequences for Germany)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 31(2), pages 334-347.
    2. Ochel, Wolfgang, 1998. "Mehr Beschäftigung und weniger Arbeitslosigkeit : Amerika, hast du es besser? (More employment and less unemployment : America - are you any better off?)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 31(2), pages 262-276.
    3. Ochel, Wolfgang, 1998. "Mehr Beschäftigung und weniger Arbeitslosigkeit : Amerika, hast du es besser? (More employment and less unemployment : America - are you any better off?)," Mitteilungen aus der Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 31(2), pages 262-276.
    4. Sergio Destefanis & Matteo Fragetta & Giuseppe Mastromatteo & Nazzareno Ruggiero, 2020. "The Beveridge curve in the OECD before and after the great recession," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(3), pages 411-436, September.
    5. Ignat Stepanok, 2016. "Creative destruction and unemployment in an open economy model," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(3), pages 931-948, August.
    6. Ansgar Belke & Rainer Fehn, "undated". "Institutions and Structural Unemployment: Do Capital-Market Imperfections Matter?," German Working Papers in Law and Economics 2001-default/2001/1-1008, Berkeley Electronic Press.
    7. Reinhold Kosfeld & Christian Dreger & Hans-Friedrich Eckey, 2008. "On the stability of the German Beveridge curve: a spatial econometric perspective," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 42(4), pages 967-986, December.
    8. Carsten Ochsen, 2009. "On the measurement of mismatch," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(4), pages 405-409.
    9. Daron Acemoglu, 1999. "Changes in Unemployment and Wage Inequality: An Alternative Theory and Some Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(5), pages 1259-1278, December.
    10. David Card & Francis Kramarz & Thomas Lemieux, 1999. "Changes in the Relative Structure of Wages and Employment: A Comparison of the United States, Canada, and France," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(4), pages 843-877, August.
    11. Jeff Borland, 2000. "Disaggregated Models of Unemployment in Australia," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2000n16, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    12. Edin, Per-Anders & Fredriksson, Peter & Lundborg, Per, 2000. "Trade, Earnings, and Mobility - Swedish Evidence," Working Paper Series 163, Trade Union Institute for Economic Research.
    13. Brigitte Preissl, 2007. "The German Service Gap Or: Re‐Organising The Manufacturing––Services Puzzle," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 457-478, July.
    14. Piva, Mariacristina & Santarelli, Enrico & Vivarelli, Marco, 2005. "The skill bias effect of technological and organisational change: Evidence and policy implications," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 141-157, March.
    15. Gregg, Paul & Manning, Alan, 1997. "Skill-biassed change, unemployment and wage inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1173-1200, June.
    16. Puhani, Patrick A., 2001. "Wage rigidities in Western Germany? Microeconometric evidence from the 1990s," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-36, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    17. Wasmer, Etienne, 1998. "Labor Supply Dynamics, Unemployment and Human Capital Investments," Seminar Papers 651, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies.
    18. Collard, Fabrice & Fonseca, Raquel & Munoz, Rafael, 2002. "Spanish unemployment persistence and the ladder effect," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20073, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Inés P. Murillo, 2011. "Human capital obsolescence: some evidence for Spain," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 426-445, July.
    20. Giorgio Di Pietro & Andrea Cutillo, 2006. "Does Attending a Catholic School Make a Difference? Evidence From Italy," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(3), pages 193-234, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iab:iabmit:v:31:i:2:p:334-347. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: IAB, Geschäftsbereich Wissenschaftliche Fachinformation und Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iabbbde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.