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What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature

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  • Butschek, Sebastian
  • Walter, Thomas

Abstract

A growing body of programme evaluation literature recognises immigrants as a disadvantaged group on European labour markets and investigates the employment effects of Active Labour Market Pro-grammes (ALMPs) on this subgroup. Using a meta-analysis, we condense 93 estimates from 33 empir-ical studies of the effectiveness of four types of ALMPs employed across Europe to combat immigrant unemployment: training, job search assistance, and subsidised public and private sector employment. We find that only wage subsidies in the private sector can be confidently recommended to European policy-makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Butschek, Sebastian & Walter, Thomas, 2013. "What active labour market programmes work for immigrants in Europe? A meta-analysis of the evaluation literature," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-056, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
  • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewdip:13056
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    immigrants; unemployment; labour market integration; ALMP; evaluation; meta-analysis;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J68 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Public Policy
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs

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