IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/admini/v67y2019i2p71-93n4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A JobBridge to nowhere: The National Internship Scheme as fast policy leading to bad policy

Author

Listed:
  • Arlow Jonathan

    (School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Ireland)

Abstract

JobBridge, the Irish National Internship Scheme, was a labour activation measure launched in July 2011, during a period of extreme economic crisis, and was marketed as a chance for young people to gain career experience in quality work placements. Over 60 per cent of participants found employment after leaving the scheme but it suffered from high deadweight losses and was widely criticised as exploitative during its existence. This was quite predictable, which leaves the puzzle as to why JobBridge was designed without more regulations to protect the entry-level jobs market and the interests of the unemployed? This paper will trace the processes behind this suboptimal decision-making. First, it will show the institutional factors influencing poor policy decisions on labour activation. Then it will explain the main incentives behind an under-regulated programme, which were the need to develop a workable scheme as quickly as possible and to do this without significant funding. Finally, it will show how the decision-making process prioritised the interests of the Labour Party, government, business and the concerned parents of unemployed youth over the interests of the unemployed.

Suggested Citation

  • Arlow Jonathan, 2019. "A JobBridge to nowhere: The National Internship Scheme as fast policy leading to bad policy," Administration, Sciendo, vol. 67(2), pages 71-93, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:admini:v:67:y:2019:i:2:p:71-93:n:4
    DOI: 10.2478/admin-2019-0014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/admin-2019-0014
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/admin-2019-0014?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. O'Higgins, Niall, 2015. "Youth Unemployment," IZA Policy Papers 103, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Melvin Vooren & Carla Haelermans & Wim Groot & Henriëtte Maassen van den Brink, 2019. "The Effectiveness Of Active Labor Market Policies: A Meta‐Analysis," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 125-149, February.
    3. Andrew Dyke & Carolyn J. Heinrich & Peter R. Mueser & Kenneth R. Troske & Kyung-Seong Jeon, 2006. "The Effects of Welfare-to-Work Program Activities on Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 567-608, July.
    4. Betcherman, Gordon & Godfrey, Martin & Puerto, Susana & Rother, Friederike & Stavreska, Antoneta, 2007. "A review of interventions to support young workers : findings of the youth employment inventory," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 41412, The World Bank.
    5. Alain de Serres & Fabrice Murtin, 2013. "Do Policies that Reduce Unemployment Raise its Volatility?: Evidence from OECD Countries," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1020, OECD Publishing.
    6. O'Higgins, Niall, 2001. "Youth unemployment and employment policy: a global perspective," MPRA Paper 23698, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    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. Kuddo, Arvo, 2009. "Employment services and active labor market programs in Eastern European and Central Asian countries," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 51253, The World Bank.
    2. Gordon Betcherman & Themrise Khan, 2018. "Jobs for Africa’s expanding youth cohort: a stocktaking of employment prospects and policy interventions," IZA Journal of Migration and Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 8(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Iva Tomic, 2016. "What drives youth unemployment in Europe?," Working Papers 1601, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    4. Eichhorst, Werner & Rinne, Ulf, 2015. "An Assessment of the Youth Employment Inventory and Implications for Germany's Development Policy," IZA Research Reports 67, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Iva TOMIĆ, 2018. "What drives youth unemployment in Europe? Economic vs non‐economic determinants," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 157(3), pages 379-408, September.
    6. Faik Bilgili & Ilhan Ozturk & Emrah Kocak & Umit Bulut, 2017. "Energy Consumption-Youth Unemployment Nexus in Europe: Evidence from Panel Cointegration and Panel Causality Analyses," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 193-201.
    7. Niall O’Higgins, 2010. "Youth Labour Markets in Europe and Central Asia," Working Papers id:2740, eSocialSciences.
    8. Junquera, Álvaro F., 2024. "More money, more effect? Employment effects of job search programs in Veneto," SocArXiv rjshu, Center for Open Science.
    9. Floro Ernesto Caroleo & Elvira Ciociano & Sergio Destefanis, 2017. "Youth Labour-Market Performance, Institutions and Vet Systems: A Cross-Country Analysis," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 3(1), pages 39-69, March.
    10. Vimal Ranchhod & Arden Finn, 2016. "Estimating the Short Run Effects of South Africa's Employment Tax Incentive on Youth Employment Probabilities using A Difference-in-Differences Approach," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 84(2), pages 199-216, June.
    11. Nicola Banks, 2014. "What works for young people's development? A Case Study of BRAC's Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescent Girls programme in Uganda and Tanzania," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 21214, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    12. Giovanni S F Bruno & Enrico Marelli & Marcello Signorelli, 2014. "The Rise of NEET and Youth Unemployment in EU Regions after the Crisis," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(4), pages 592-615, December.
    13. Orsetta Causa & Alain de Serres & Nicolas Ruiz, 2015. "Can pro-growth policies lift all boats?: An analysis based on household disposable income," OECD Journal: Economic Studies, OECD Publishing, vol. 2015(1), pages 227-268.
    14. Christoph S. Weber, 2020. "The unemployment effect of central bank transparency," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 59(6), pages 2947-2975, December.
    15. André Dumas Tsambou & Lionie Mafang & Thierno Malick Diallo & Benjamin Fomba Kamga, 2024. "Impact of job training program on employment outcomes in Senegal," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(8), pages 1-33, August.
    16. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio, 2023. "Retirement and health outcomes in a meta‐analytical framework," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1120-1155, September.
    17. Blomquist, Glenn C. & Coomes, Paul A. & Jepsen, Christopher & Koford, Brandon C. & Troske, Kenneth R., 2014. "Estimating the social value of higher education: willingness to pay for community and technical colleges," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 5(1), pages 3-41, January.
    18. Ali Souag & Ragui Assaad, 2018. "The impact of the action plan for promoting employment and combating unemployment on employment informality in Algeria," Middle East Development Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(2), pages 272-298, July.
    19. Chris Herbst & David Stevens, 2010. "The Impact of Local Labor Market Conditions on Work and Welfare Decisions: Revisiting an Old Question Using New Data," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(4), pages 453-479, August.
    20. Grimm, Michael & Paffhausen, Anna Luisa, 2015. "Do interventions targeted at micro-entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized firms create jobs? A systematic review of the evidence for low and middle income countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 67-85.

    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:vrs:admini:v:67:y:2019:i:2:p:71-93:n:4. 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: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    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.