http://hdl.handle.net/1842/3136 2013-05-20T20:50:04Z 2013-05-20T20:50:04Z Abrassart, Aurélien http://hdl.handle.net/1842/5717 2011-12-06T09:35:26Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Cognitive skills matter. The employment disadvantage of the low-educated in international comparison Authors: Abrassart, Aurélien Abstract: It is now a widely acknowledged fact that the low-skilled are facing important risks of labour market exclusion in modern economies. However, possessing low levels of educational qualifications leads to very different situations from one country to another, as the cross-national variation in the unemployment rates of the low-skilled attest. While conventional wisdom usually blames welfare states and the resulting rigidity of labour markets for the low employment opportunities of low-skilled workers, empirical evidence tends to contradict this predominant view. Using microdata from the International Adult Literacy Survey that was conducted between 1994 and 1998, we examine the sources of the cross-national variation in the employment disadvantage of low-skilled workers in 14 industrialized nations. In particular, we test the validity of the conventional theories concerning the supposedly harmful effect of labour market regulation against a new and promising hypothesis on the importance of cognitive skills for the employment opportunities of the low-educated. Our findings support the latter and suggest that the employment disadvantage the low-educated experience relatively to medium-educated workers is mainly due to their deficit in the skills that have become so important for labour market success in the recent past, namely cognitive skills.

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Vlandas, Timothee http://hdl.handle.net/1842/5010 2011-07-15T13:13:25Z 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: The dependent variable problem in quantitative studies of Active Labour Market Programmes: Uncovering hidden dynamics? Authors: Vlandas, Timothee Abstract: The question of what explains variation in expenditures on Active Labour Market Programs (ALMPs) has attracted significant scholarship in recent years. Significant insights have been gained with respect to the role of employers, unions and dual labour markets, openness, and partisanship. However, there remain significant disagreements with respects to key explanatory variables such the role of unions or the impact of partisanship. Qualitative studies have shown that there are both good conceptual reasons as well as historical evidence that different ALMPs are driven by different dynamics. There is little reason to believe that vastly different programs such as training and employment subsidies are driven by similar structural, interest group or indeed partisan dynamics. The question is therefore whether different ALMPs have the same correlation with different key explanatory variables identified in the literature? Using regression analysis, this paper shows that the explanatory variables identified by the literature have different relation to distinct ALMPs. This refinement adds significant analytical value and shows that disagreements are at least partly due to a dependent variable problem of ‘over-aggregation’.

2011-01-01T00:00:00Z Chung, Heejung van Oorschot, Wim http://hdl.handle.net/1842/4776 2011-02-07T12:13:12Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: Employment insecurity of European individuals during the financial crisis. A multi-level approach. Authors: Chung, Heejung; van Oorschot, Wim Abstract: The concept of Flexicurity has been receiving much attention as the European social model. One of the most important concepts within the flexicurity approach is employment security, the security of having secure and continuous employment career, which may entail changing employers and jobs. How do European individuals subjectively perceive their employment security? In addition, which individual characteristics can explain for feeling employment insecurity? Are there differences found across countries, and why is this the case? In this paper, we examine the various individual as well as national level characteristics that can explain individuals’ perception of their employment security. To do this we use a multi-level model, where contextual effects are taken into account and individuals are considered to be embedded in countries. The data used for analysis is the 4th wave of the European Social Survey for 22 countries for the year 2008/2009. We find that various individual level characteristics such as demographic, human and social capital, as well as attitude variables explain why an individual feels employment insecure. At the country level, it seems that labour market and economic situations are more important than institutions in explaining the cross-national variance of employment insecurity perceptions.

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z de la Porte, Caroline http://hdl.handle.net/1842/4775 2011-02-07T12:13:03Z 2010-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: State of the art. Overview of concepts, indicators and methodologies used for analyzing the social OMC. Authors: de la Porte, Caroline Abstract: This paper is a detailed analysis about the literature on the Social OMC from 2006-2010, focusing on how OMC research has been carried out. It specifically points to which theoretical framework/concepts are used, and how change is conceptualised and measured. It is organised in five sections. The first concerns visibility and awareness about the OMC; the second analyses research on the EU level coordination process; the third scrutinizes how features of the OMC have been analysed. The fourth and fifth sections, addressing how national integration of the OMC has been researched, respectively address substantive policy change as well as national policy-making. Strikingly, virtually all OMC research adopts theoretical frameworks derived from literature on Europeanisation and/or institutionalisation. Also, as the OMC is voluntary and sanction-free, it depends heavily on how and the the extent to which actors use it (agenda-setting, conflict resolution, maintaining focus on a policy issue, developing a policy dialogue, etc). OMC research has become nuanced and does highlight how, for which purpose and with which outcome actors engage with the OMC. Another finding is that there is data on policy issues addressed through the OMC, learning does take place and there is knowledge about domestic policy problems. However, the linkage between knowledge of an issue and direct use of the OMC for policy change in social policy is weak, but that may change with EU2020, where social policy has received a higher profile. Most research covers the EU-15, much more research needs to be undertaken in newer EU member states.

2010-01-01T00:00:00Z