IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wfo/wpaper/y2013i456.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do Wage Subsidies Work in Boosting Economic Inclusion? Evidence on Effect Heterogeneity in Austria

Author

Listed:
  • Rainer Eppel

    (WIFO)

  • Helmut Mahringer

    (WIFO)

Abstract

We construct two matching scenarios to estimate the long-term impact of targeted wage subsidies in Austria on the subsequent labour market integration of previously unemployed participants. Even if substantial dead-weight loss is taken into account, the treated experience a significant increase in employment in the seven years from program start and spend considerably less time in unemployment and out of the labour force than similar nonparticipants. The effect increases with age and with pre-treatment unemployment duration. It is particularly large for older workers and the long-term unemployed. Hence, wage subsidies are particularly effective in helping disadvantaged unemployed individuals back into employment. Cumulated earnings rise significantly for the treated as a result of their relative increase in employment. Participation in the program does, however, not exert a positive influence on the quality of jobs in terms of the average wage level.

Suggested Citation

  • Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer, 2013. "Do Wage Subsidies Work in Boosting Economic Inclusion? Evidence on Effect Heterogeneity in Austria," WIFO Working Papers 456, WIFO.
    • Handle: RePEc:wfo:wpaper:y:2013:i:456
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wifo.ac.at/wwa/pubid/47032
    File Function: abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gerfin, Michael & Lechner, Michael & Steiger, Heidi, 2005. "Does subsidised temporary employment get the unemployed back to work? Aneconometric analysis of two different schemes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 807-835, December.
    2. Bernhard, Sarah & Gartner, Hermann & Stephan, Gesine, 2008. "Wage Subsidies for Needy Job-Seekers and Their Effect on Individual Labour Market Outcomes after the German Reforms," IZA Discussion Papers 3772, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Volter, Robert, 2007. "Long-run effects of training programs for the unemployed in East Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 730-755, August.
    4. Marco Caliendo & Reinhard Hujer & Stephan Thomsen, 2008. "Identifying effect heterogeneity to improve the efficiency of job creation schemes in Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(9), pages 1101-1122.
    5. Stephan, Gesine, 2010. "Employer wage subsidies and wages in Germany : empirical evidence from individual data," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 43(1), pages 53-71.
    6. Martin, John P. & Grubb, David, 2001. "What works and for whom: a review of OECD countries' experiences with active labour market policies," Working Paper Series 2001:14, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Michael Lechner & Ruth Miquel & Conny Wunsch, 2011. "Long‐Run Effects Of Public Sector Sponsored Training In West Germany," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(4), pages 742-784, August.
    8. Guy Lacroix & Dany Brouillette, 2011. "Assessing the impact of a wage subsidy for single parents on social assistance," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 44(4), pages 1195-1221, November.
    9. Dauth, Wolfgang & Hujer, Reinhard & Wolf, Katja, 2010. "Macroeconometric Evaluation of Active Labour Market Policies in Austria," IZA Discussion Papers 5217, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Kluve, Jochen & Lehmann, Hartmut & Schmidt, Christoph M., 2008. "Disentangling Treatment Effects of Active Labor Market Policies: The Role of Labor Force Status Sequences," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 1270-1295, December.
    11. Bernd Fitzenberger & Aderonke Osikominu & Robert Völter, 2008. "Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 321-355.
    12. Forslund, Anders & Johansson, Per & Lindqvist, Linus, 2004. "Employment subsidies - A fast lane from unemployment to work?," Working Paper Series 2004:18, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    13. Schünemann Benjamin & Lechner Michael & Wunsch Conny, 2015. "Do Long-Term Unemployed Workers Benefit from Targeted Wage Subsidies?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 16(1), pages 43-64, February.
    14. Michael Gerfin & Michael Lechner, 2002. "A Microeconometric Evaluation of the Active Labour Market Policy in Switzerland," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 854-893, October.
    15. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    16. Reinhard Hujer & Marco Caliendo, 2003. "Lohnsubventionen in Deutschland: wie sieht eine optimale Evaluierungsstrategie aus?," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 72(1), pages 109-123.
    17. Brian Krogh Graversen & Peter Jensen, 2010. "A Reappraisal of the Virtues of Private Sector Employment Programmes," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 112(3), pages 546-569, September.
    18. Dorsett, Richard, 2006. "The new deal for young people: effect on the labour market status of young men," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 405-422, June.
    19. James Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Jeffrey Smith & Petra Todd, 1998. "Characterizing Selection Bias Using Experimental Data," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1017-1098, September.
    20. Fredriksson, Peter & Johansson, Per, 2008. "Dynamic Treatment Assignment," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 26, pages 435-445.
    21. Adda, Jérôme & Costa Dias, Mònica & Meghir, Costas & Sianesi, Barbara, 2007. "Labour market programmes and labour market outcomes: a study of the Swedish active labour market interventions," Working Paper Series 2007:27, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    22. Danielle Venn, 2009. "Legislation, Collective Bargaining and Enforcement: Updating the OECD Employment Protection Indicators," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 89, OECD Publishing.
    23. James J. Heckman & Vytlacil, Edward J., 2007. "Econometric Evaluation of Social Programs, Part I: Causal Models, Structural Models and Econometric Policy Evaluation," Handbook of Econometrics, in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 6, chapter 70, Elsevier.
    24. A. D. Roy, 1951. "Some Thoughts On The Distribution Of Earnings," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 135-146.
    25. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    26. Helmut Hofer & Andrea Weber, 2006. "Active Labor Market Policy in Austria: Practice and Evaluation Results," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 75(3), pages 155-167.
    27. Carling, Kenneth & Richardson, Katarina, 2004. "The relative efficiency of labor market programs: Swedish experience from the 1990s," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 335-354, June.
    28. Andreas Ammermüller & Bernhard Boockmann & Michael Maier & Thomas Zwick, 2006. "Eingliederungszuschüsse und Entgeltsicherung für Ältere: Analysen auf Basis natürlicher Experimente," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 75(3), pages 49-66.
    29. Zhang, Tao, 2003. "Identifying treatment effects of active labour market programmes for Norwegian adults," Memorandum 26/2003, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    30. Stephan, Gesine, 2010. "Wages, Employment and Tenure of Temporarily Subsidized Workers: Does the Industry Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 5078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    31. Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Helmut Mahringer & Eva Rückert, 2011. "Kurzarbeit in Deutschland und Österreich," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 41278.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wifo, 2017. "WIFO-Monatsberichte, Heft 6/2017," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 90(6), June.
    2. Rainer Eppel & Ulrike Famira-Mühlberger & Thomas Horvath & Ulrike Huemer & Helmut Mahringer, 2018. "Anstieg und Verfestigung der Arbeitslosigkeit seit der Wirtschaftskrise. Entwicklung, Ursachen und Handlungsansätze," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 62227.
    3. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer & Petra Sauer, 2017. "Österreich 2025 – Arbeitslosigkeit und die Rolle der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 90(6), pages 493-505, June.
    4. Rainer Eppel, 2014. "The Effects of a Job Creation Scheme. Evidence from Regional Variation in Programme Capacities," WIFO Working Papers 489, WIFO.
    5. Angela Köppl & Simon Loretz & Ina Meyer & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2019. "Effekte eines ermäßigten Mehrwertsteuersatzes für Reparaturdienstleistungen," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61957.

    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. Rainer Eppel & Helmut Mahringer, 2012. "Do wage subsidies work in boosting economic inclusion? Evidence on e," EcoMod2012 4065, EcoMod.
    2. Lechner, Michael & Wunsch, Conny, 2013. "Sensitivity of matching-based program evaluations to the availability of control variables," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 111-121.
    3. Alessio Brown & Johannes Koettl, 2015. "Active labor market programs - employment gain or fiscal drain?," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-36, December.
    4. Biewen, Martin & Fitzenberger, Bernd & Osikominu, Aderonke & Waller, Marie, 2007. "Which Program for Whom? Evidence on the Comparative Effectiveness of Public Sponsored Training Programs in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 07-042, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    5. Joachim Wolff & Gesine Stephan, 2013. "Subsidized work before and after the German Hartz reforms: design of major schemes, evaluation results and lessons learnt," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-24, December.
    6. Stefanie Behncke & Markus Frölich & Michael Lechner, 2010. "Unemployed and their caseworkers: should they be friends or foes?," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 173(1), pages 67-92, January.
    7. Caliendo, Marco & Mahlstedt, Robert & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2017. "Unobservable, but unimportant? The relevance of usually unobserved variables for the evaluation of labor market policies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 14-25.
    8. Martin Biewen & Bernd Fitzenberger & Aderonke Osikominu & Marie Paul, 2014. "The Effectiveness of Public-Sponsored Training Revisited: The Importance of Data and Methodological Choices," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(4), pages 837-897.
    9. Sianesi, Barbara, 2008. "Differential effects of active labour market programs for the unemployed," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 370-399, June.
    10. Michael Lechner & Stephan Wiehler, 2011. "Kids or courses? Gender differences in the effects of active labor market policies," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 783-812, July.
    11. Kluve, Jochen, 2006. "The Effectiveness of European Active Labor Market Policy," IZA Discussion Papers 2018, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Lechner, Michael & Wiehler, Stephan, 2007. "Does the Order and Timing of Active Labor Market Programs Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 3092, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Michael Lechner & Stephan Wiehler, 2013. "Does the Order and Timing of Active Labour Market Programmes Matter?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 75(2), pages 180-212, April.
    14. Heyer, Gerd & Koch, Susanne & Stephan, Gesine & Wolff, Joachim, 2012. "Evaluation der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik: Ein Sachstandsbericht für die Instrumentenreform 2011 (Evaluation of active labor market programs : a summary of recent results for the German program refor," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 45(1), pages 41-62.
    15. Michael Lechner & Blaise Melly, 2007. "Earnings Effects of Training Programs," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2007 2007-28, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    16. Caliendo, Marco & Künn, Steffen, 2011. "Start-up subsidies for the unemployed: Long-term evidence and effect heterogeneity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 311-331.
    17. Bernd Fitzenberger & Aderonke Osikominu & Robert Völter, 2008. "Get Training or Wait? Long-Run Employment Effects of Training Programs for the Unemployed in West Germany," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 91-92, pages 321-355.
    18. repec:bla:germec:v:8:y:2007:i::p:468-509 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Dauth, Christine & Lang, Julia, 2017. "Should the unemployed care for the elderly? : The effect of subsidized occupational and further training in elderly care," IAB-Discussion Paper 201713, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    20. Lang, Julia & Dauth, Christine, 2017. "Should the unemployed care for the elderly? The effect of subsidized occupational and further training in geriatric care," VfS Annual Conference 2017 (Vienna): Alternative Structures for Money and Banking 168130, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    21. Gerd Heyer & Susanne Koch & Gesine Stephan & Joachim Wolff, 2012. "Evaluation der aktiven Arbeitsmarktpolitik: Ein Sachstandsbericht für die Instrumentenreform 2011 [Evaluation of active labor market programs: a summary of recent results for the German program ref," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 45(1), pages 41-62, March.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wfo:wpaper:y:2013:i:456. 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: Florian Mayr (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wifooat.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.