Labour Market Policies in the Era of Pervasive Austerity: A European Perspective

400 Pages·2018·4.29 MB·English

by  Sotiria Theodoropoulou (editor)

HOW LANGUAGE
WORKS IN POLITICS
The impact of vague legislation on policy
LABOUR MARKET
POLICIES IN THE
ERA OF PERVASIVE
AUSTERITY
A European perspective
EDITED BY
SOTIRIA THEODOROPOULOU
LABOUR MARKET POLICIES IN
THE ERA OF PERVASIVE AUSTERITY
A European perspective
Edited by Sotiria Theodoropoulou
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by

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Contents
List of figures and tables vii
Notes on contributors xiii
Acknowledgements xix
one Labour market policies in the era of European pervasive 1
austerity: a review
Sotiria Theodoropoulou
Introduction 1
New approaches to labour market policies under 2
the pressures of ‘permanent austerity’ and the emergence
of ‘new’ social risks
Blame avoidance, credit claiming and patterns of 4
policy change
New policy agendas 5
Is this time different? 6
Empirical approach and organisation of the book 8
two Structural reforms in Europe: a comparative overview 15
Chiara Agostini and David Natali
Introduction 15
Socio-economic reforms in Europe: common path 16
or different strategies?
Structural reforms in the European Union: some 18
conceptual clarification
Structural reform trends: a cluster-by-cluster overview 20
Concluding remarks 33
Appendix 38
three Income support policies and labour market reforms 43
under austerity in Greece
Manos Matsaganis
Introduction 43
Income support 45
Active labour market policies 50
Employment protection legislation 56
Conclusion 60
Appendix 65
iii
Labour market policies in the era of pervasive austerity
four The Italian labour market policy reforms and the 69
economic crisis: coming towards the end of Italian
exceptionalism?
Patrik Vesan and Emmanuele Pavoli
Introduction 69
Main aspects of the Italian labour market before and 70
since the onset of the crisis
Changes in the traditional model: from the mid-1990s 73
until the crisis
Towards a new institutional landscape: the ‘long jump’ of 75
labour market policy reforms during the economic crisis
A fragile and still incomplete path towards a new labour 84
market policy regime
five French employment market policies: dualisation and 91
destabilisation
Hélène Caune and Sotiria Theodoropoulou
Introduction 91
Macroeconomic and labour market background 92
Labour market policies prior to the crisis: the gradual 96
shift towards dualisation
Labour market policies since 2009: cyclical measures 99
to support young people and flexibilisation reforms
Conclusion: France under austerity and the ambiguous 108
attempt to tackle dualisation
six The German exception: welfare protectionism instead 115
of retrenchment
Werner Eichhorst and Anke Hassel
Introduction 115
Welfare reforms during the 2000s 117
Germany during the crisis 120
Welfare reforms since 2010: re-regulation rather than 125
retrenchment policies
Conclusion 137
iv
Contents
seven The Netherlands and the crisis: from activation 141
to ‘deficiency compensation’
Marcel Hoogenboom
Introduction 141
The consequences of the crisis and early policy reactions 142
Reform of the Dutch unemployment provision system 146
and active labour market policies up to the crisis (1980s–2008)
Emergency measures and reform plans (2008–10) 153
The politics of reform (2010–present) 156
Conclusion 161
eight Dualising the Swedish model: insiders and outsiders and 169
labour market policy reform in Sweden: an overview
Johan Bo Davidsson
Introduction 169
Labour market policy reform from the 1990s and onwards 170
Recent developments: labour market policy and 189
economic crisis
Conclusion 190
nine No longer ‘fit for purpose’? Consolidation and 197
catch-up in Irish labour market policy
Fiona Dukelow
Introduction 197
Setting the context: the economic crisis and its 198
consequences for labour market policy
Mapping key changes in labour market policy 202
Concluding remarks 219
ten Retrenchment, conditionality and flexibility – 225
UK labour market policies in the era of austerity
Elke Heins and Hayley Bennett
Introduction 225
The UK crisis context 226
Unemployment benefits: Jobseeker’s Allowance 228
Employment protection legislation 230
Active labour market policies 233
Training and human capital formation 235
Needs-based social protection for the unemployed 239
Discussion 240
Conclusion 244
v
Labour market policies in the era of pervasive austerity
eleven Czechia: political experimentation or incremental reforms? 253
Tomáš Sirovátka
Introduction 253
Economic development during the crisis and 255
related European Union regulations
Labour market policies 256
Minimum income protection and activation of long-term 264
unemployed and social assistance recipients
Politics of the reforms in labour market-related policies 267
Conclusion 270
Appendix 274
twelve Slovakia: perpetual austerity and growing emphasis
on activation 277
Stefan Domonkos
Introduction 277
Macroeconomic and macro-institutional context 278
Labour market policies during the economic transition 283
and beyond
Conclusions: assessing the impact of EU austerity 298
on labour market policies
thirteen Slovenian labour market policies under austerity: 309
narrowing the gap between the well- and the less
well-protected in the labour market?
Miroljub Ignjatovic´ and Maša Filipovicˇ Hrast
Introduction 309
Context and policy changes up to 2010 310
Labour market policy developments and outcomes 316
since 2010
Conclusion 329
Appendix 333
fourteen Conclusions 337
Sotiria Theodoropoulou
Introduction 337
Changes in labour market policies 338
Increasing and divergent labour market insecurity 354
Concluding remarks 358
Index 363
vi
List of figures and tables
Figures
2.1 Pensions expenditure as a percentage of GDP, 1999–2012 38
2.2 Net replacement rates, pensions, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 38
2.3 Public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP, 39
1999–2011
2.4 Public expenditure on education as a share of total public 39
expenditure 1999–2011
2.5 Public expenditure on R&D and the public sector, 1999–2012 40
2.6 General government expenditure in the remuneration of 40
employees as a share of GDP, 1999–2012
3.1 Coverage rate of unemployment benefits in Greece, 2010–16 50
5.1 Real GDP, employment (in 000s) and total average annual 93
hours worked growth (2007=100), France, 2007–16
5.2 Public expenditure in different types of labour market 100
policies as a share of GDP, France, 1998–2014
6.1 Employment rates as a percentage of the working-age 120
population (age 15–64), various EU countries, 2000–15
6.2 Unemployment rates as a percentage of the labour force, 121
various EU countries, 2000–15
6.3 Short-time workers in Germany, 2005–16 122
6.4 Minimum wage in percent of median wage of full-time 126
workers, OECD-Europe countries and US, 2014
6.5 Collective bargaining coverage, as a percentage of all 127
workers, Germany, 1998–2015
6.6 Unemployment and long-term unemployment in Germany 130
as a percentage of the active population, 2000–15
6.7 Expenditure on active labour market policies as a 131
percentage of GDP, selected EU member states, 2000–14
6.8 Expenditure on active labour market policies as a 131
percentage of GDP, selected EU member states
6.9 Employment rate of workers aged 55–64 as a percentage of 132
the total population, selected EU member states, 2000–15
7.1 Real GDP growth and government deficit in 144
the Netherlands, 2005–16 (% of GDP)
7.2 Unemployment total labour force (15–65 years of age) 145
and youth unemployment (15–35 years of age); and benefit
recipients of unemployment insurance and social assistance,
as a percentage of the labour force, 2004–16
vii
Labour market policies in the era of pervasive austerity
7.3 Spending on active labour market policies in 150
the Netherlands: spending per recipient (€) and total spending as
percentage of real GDP, 1990–2014
7.4 Activation budgets of social assistance and unemployment 163
insurance: average spending per recipient (€), 2007–15
8.1 Employment protection legislation – regular and 173
temporary contracts, Sweden, 1985–2013
8.2 Net replacement rates in the unemployment insurance, 178
Sweden and the EU15
8.3 Spending on passive and active measures, and 179
unemployment (standard scores), Sweden, 1985–2013
8.4 Social assistance, spending and household recipient rates, 183
Sweden 1990–2015
8.5 Labour-market programmes, spending on active measures, 185
Sweden, EU15 and Nordic countries, 1985–2015
8.6 Labour market programmes, spending on training, Sweden, 185
EU15 and Nordic countries, 1985–2015
8.7 Type of active labour market programme spending, 186
Sweden, 1985–2015
9.1 Government deficit, government debt and GDP growth 199
rate, Ireland, 2007–16
9.2 Unemployment and long-term unemployment rate, 200
Ireland, 1990–2016
10.1 Unemployment rates, EU28 and UK, 2007–16 227
10.2 Real GDP growth rate (volume), EU28 and UK since 2007, 227
percentage change on previous year
10.3 UK gross government debt as percentage of GDP since 2007 228
10.4 Jobseeker’s Allowance expenditure, UK, 2001–17 229
10.5 Jobseeker’s Allowance sanctioning trends, UK, 241
April 2000–October 2016
10.6 Employment Support Allowance sanctioning trends, 242
Great Britain, January 2008–July 2016
12.1 Total, youth and long-term unemployment rates in 281
Slovakia, 1994–2015
12.2 Unemployment benefit recipients as a percentage of 285
registered unemployed, Slovakia, various years 1997–2015
12.3 Expenditure on active labour market policies in Slovakia, 292
Austria, France and Germany as a percentage of nominal
GDP, 1991–2014
12.4 Participation in active labour market policies in Slovakia, 293
2005–14 (’000)
viii
Contents
13.1 Number of unemployed registered with the employment 310
service at the end of the year, Slovenia, 1967–2016
13.2 Share of unemployment benefit recipients in total 311
registered unemployed, Slovenia, 1991–2016
13.3 Level of flexible employment among persons in 314
employment, Slovenia, 2007–16
13.4 Consolidated gross debt and net borrowing/deficit at 315
year-end, Slovenia, 2000–16 (% of GDP)
13.5 Chronological overview of the most important reforms, 317
Slovenia, 2010–16
13.6 At-risk-of-poverty rates by labour market status 323
(aged 18 years and more), Slovenia, 2005–16
13.7 In-work at-risk-of-poverty rates for some forms of 325
employment in Slovenia by employment status, 2005–16
13.8 Number of registered unemployed and expenditure for 328
labour market policies, Slovenia, 2008–15
14.1 Fiscal consolidation effort and labour market reform 341
effort per year, selected European Union member states,
2010–14
14.2 Labour market reform effort per year and average annual 341
growth of unemployed, selected European Union member
states, 2010–14
14.3 Public expenditure in labour market services per person 342
wanting to work, selected European Union member states,
1998–2015
14.4 Public expenditure in labour market policy measures 342
per person wanting to work, selected European Union
member states, 1998–2015
14.5 Public expenditure in labour market (financial) support 343
policies per person wanting to work, selected European
Union member states, 1998–2015
14.6 Long-term unemployment as share of total unemployment, 344
selected European Union member states, 2008, 2010, 2015
14.7 Evolution of the OECD labour market insecurity indicator 356
(% of previous earnings), selected European Union member
states, 2007, 2010 and 2013
14.8 Evolution of the OECD unemployment risk indicator 357
(% of time), selected European Union member states,
2007, 2010 and 2013
14.9 Evolution of the OECD effective unemployment insurance 358
indicator (% of previous earnings), selected European
Union member states, 2007, 2010 and 2013
ix