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Are Active Labour Market Programmes Least Effective Where They Are Most Needed? The Case of the British New Deal for Young People

Author

Listed:
  • Duncan McVicar

    (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne)

  • Jan M. Podivinsky

    (Economics Division, The University of Southampton)

Abstract

One view of Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs) is that they are 'most needed in slack labour markets, where more unemployed workers require help finding jobs. But ALMPs might be less effective in such labour markets because there are fewer vacancies with which programme participants can match. In this paper we use data over a nine year period, across 300 local labour markets, to show that the unemployment exit and job entry impacts of participating in a mandatory ALMP for unemployed young people – the British New Deal for Young People (NDYP) – were negatively correlated with unemployment rates.

Suggested Citation

  • Duncan McVicar & Jan M. Podivinsky, 2010. "Are Active Labour Market Programmes Least Effective Where They Are Most Needed? The Case of the British New Deal for Young People," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2010n16, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2010n16
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    File URL: http://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/working_paper_series/wp2010n16.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Marco Caliendo & Steffen K�nn, 2014. "Regional Effect Heterogeneity of Start-up Subsidies for the Unemployed," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 1108-1134, June.
    2. Carlo Altavilla & Floro Ernesto Caroleo, 2013. "Asymmetric Effects of National-based Active Labour Market Policies," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(9), pages 1482-1506, October.
    3. Yin Fok & Duncan McVicar, 2013. "Did the 2007 welfare reforms for low income parents in Australia increase welfare exits?," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-21, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Active Labour Market Programmes; New Deal for Young People; unemployment; evaluation; heterogeneous effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy

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