Do subsidized work contracts enhance capabilities of the long-term unemployed ? Evidence based on French Data (original) (raw)

Evaluating the Impact of French Employment Policies on Individual Labour Market Histories

The Review of Economic Studies, 1997

This paper deals with the evaluation of some public employment policies set up in France during the 1980's to improve the labour market prospects of unskilled young workers. The evaluation implemented in this paper is restricted to the impact of such public measures on durations and outcomes of subsequent spells of unemployment and employment. The econometric study is conducted with non-experimental longitudinal microdata recording individual labour nlarket histories. A particular attention is paid to the differential effects of various types of measures, according to the educational level of recipients. Programmes involving a higher level of on-thejob training, such as alternating work/training programmes in private firms, are principally beneficial to the less educated young workers. In contrast, for more educated young workers, "work fare" programmes in the public sector decrease the intensity of transition from the subsequent unemployment spell to regular jobs; for that subgroup, "work fare" programmes may act as a signal of low employment performance.

Low-skilled Jobs: The French Strategy

Open Access publications from Sciences Po, 2007

Since 1995, French governments implemented a specific strategy aiming at lowering unemployment or inactivity of so called unskilled workers, in fact of low wage workers. This strategy used two tools: cuts in employers' social contributions reduce companies' costs for hiring low-wage workers; the Prime Pour l'Emploi, PPE, raises low-wage workers' incomes, and increases the gap between wage and assistance benefits in order to increase incentives for low-wage workers to take a job. The paper provides a description of the situation of unskilled workers in France. It describes the history of measures lowering employers' contributions on low wages, presents and discusses the studies that have tried to assess the impact of such measures on employment. These cuts cost approximately 18 billion euros in 2007. An average estimate of about 550,000 jobs created would have an ex post cost of 9 billion euro, i.e. 176,000 euros per created job. The history and the structure of the PPE are presented. According to existing studies, the PPE would not have a significant effect on labour supply. Should it be concluded from it that there is not inactivity trap? Or, on the contrary, that the trap is very deep? The current debate on the appropriateness to maintain employers' contribution and PPE or to reform them is addressed.

Training the Unemployed in France: How Does It Affect Unemployment Duration and Recurrence?

Institute for the Study of Labor. …, 2007

Training the Unemployed in France: How Does It Affect Unemployment Duration and Recurrence? Econometric evaluations of public-sponsored training programmes generally find little evidence of an impact of such policies on transition rates out of unemployment. We perform the first evaluation of training effects for the unemployed adults in France, exploiting a unique longitudinal dataset from the unemployment insurance system. Using the so-called timing-ofevents methodology to control for both observed and unobserved heterogeneity, we find that training does not accelerate the exit from unemployment, but has a significant and positive effect on the duration of the subsequent employment spell. Accounting for training duration, we find that longer training spells cause longer unemployment spells, but also longer employment spells, suggesting that training improves the matching process between jobseekers and firms.

Annex 6.4 : Low-skilled Jobs : The French Strategy

2007

Since 1995, French governments implemented a specific strategy aiming at lowering unemployment or inactivity of so called unskilled workers, in fact of low wage workers. This strategy used two tools: cuts in employers' social contributions reduce companies' costs for hiring low-wage workers; the Prime Pour l'Emploi, PPE, raises low-wage workers' incomes, and increases the gap between wage and assistance benefits in order to increase incentives for low-wage workers to take a job. The paper provides a description of the situation of unskilled workers in France. It describes the history of measures lowering employers' contributions on low wages, presents and discusses the studies that have tried to assess the impact of such measures on employment. These cuts cost approximately 18 billion euros in 2007. An average estimate of about 550,000 jobs created would have an ex post cost of 9 billion euro, i.e. 176,000 euros per created job. The history and the structure of the PPE are presented. According to existing studies, the PPE would not have a significant effect on labour supply. Should it be concluded from it that there is not inactivity trap? Or, on the contrary, that the trap is very deep? The current debate on the appropriateness to maintain employers' contribution and PPE or to reform them is addressed.

Guaranteed minimum income and unemployment duration in France

Labour Economics, 2009

In this article, we use data from the European Community Household Panel to evaluate the impact of a French guaranteed income program, the RMI, on the the hazard out of unemployment. Self-selection into the program is corrected using a multivariate duration model developed by Abbring and van den Berg (2003). We find that RMI receipt has a strong negative impact during the first months of program participation, but that this disincentive effect quickly falls to insignificant levels after six months. Household structure also appears to be an important determinant of the importance of the adverse effect of program participation.

Better paying than hiring : An evaluation of the 1987 French Law for the employment of disabled people * †

2015

In France, the 1987 Law set up a legal quota of disabled workers in more than 20 employees companies. In order to encourage employers to better promote the employment of disabled people, this law decreed financial penalties for non-compliance. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of this law on the employment of disabled people. We use a double difference approach combined with dynamic exact matching and weighting methods in order to disentangle the pure effect of the legislation by controlling for both observable and unobservable correlated heterogeneities. Using a panel data set built from the “Santé et itinéraire professionnel” (lit. Health and Labour Market Histories) survey conducted in France in 2006-2007, we investigate whether disabilities have a significant impact on people’s employment, by distinguishing between the public and private sectors. We compare the labour trajectories of disabled people before (1968-1986) and after (19882006) the implementation of the ...

An evaluation of the 1987 French Disabled Workers Act: better paying than hiring

The European Journal of Health Economics

In France, the French Disabled Workers Act set up a legal quota of disabled workers in more than 20 employees companies. In order to encourage employers to better promote the employment of disabled people, this law decreed financial penalties for noncompliance. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the impact of this law on the employment of disabled people. We use a triple difference approach combined with dynamic exact matching and weighting methods in order to disentangle the pure effect of the legislation by controlling for both observable and unobservable correlated heterogeneities. Using a panel data set built from the "Santé et itinéraire professionnel" (lit. "Health and Labour Market Histories") survey conducted in France in 2006-2007, we investigate whether disabilities have a significant impact on people's employment, by distinguishing between the public and private sectors. We compare the labour trajectories of disabled people before and after the implementation of the law (1968-1986 vs 1988-2006). Our findings highlight a negative impact of the Disabled Workers Act on the employment of disabled people. By enabling firms to abide by the legal employment obligation without hiring any disabled workers, this measure has probably had a counterproductive impact on the employment of disabled people. Nevertheless, this negative effect is restricted to the private sector; we find that the public sector shelters the disabled workers.

The employment of the low-skilled youth in France

The Employment of the Low-Skilled Youth in France * Youth unemployment is notoriously high in France, in particular for the low-skilled. Within the EU, only the crisis countries of Southern Europe fare worse. This report delivered to the French Council of Economic Analysis analyzes the causes and consequences of this alarming trend. In addition, drawing on the available evidence on various measures that could improve the current situation, concrete policies proposals are derived that cover the areas of vocational education, second chance programs, job search assistance, income support, employment subsidies and dismissal protection.

Unemployment Polices and Programs: A Study of French and Texas Systems

The enormous consequences of unemployment are imposed on societies. This study examines the world unemployment problem by looking at the policies and programs of the country of France and the state of Texas. The research will review the institutional structure of French and Texas labor markets in order to analyze their influence on job creation for small companies. A second area of study will be to assess the French and Texas taxation policies in order to determine their contribution to the infant mortality of small companies. An additional research purpose is to evaluate the capacity the French and Texas unemployment compensation programs in order to judge their ability to provide a uniform amount of assistance for unemployed people. Working hypothesis will guide the course of this study. The report asserts that the French unemployment compensation system, provides a more uniform amount of assistance to unemployed people. Additionally, it is hypothesized that the French system provides better protection for the hardest to employ. Because of the cost of this assistance, it is theorized that the French social tax system and labor market influence contributes to the infant mortality of small businesses. Interviews and document analysis are used to validate these assumptions. Results from the data, reject the hypotheses that focus on uniformity of assistance for the unemployed, and the contributing influence of labor market regulation on small company mortality. The study supports the hypotheses that emphasize bottom-tier protection for the unemployed, and the detrimental contribution of the French social tax system on small company mortality.