The original essays in this book have been written by a number of leading international experts in the field of labour market studies to honour the intellectual contribution and lifetime achievement of Gunther Schmid.The multidisciplinary contributions, which cover a variety of theoretical approaches, are all concerned with transitional labour markets and labour market policy in the new global economic environment. The authors first address current arguments and controversies regarding appropriate institutions for the formation and implementation of labour market and employment policies. They move on to focus on the policies and problems associated with enhancing gender equality in terms of labour market integration and transitions. Finally, they examine new institutional arrangements that they believe will both enhance the performance of transitional labour markets and improve the management of social risks. Combining a theoretical approach with empirical research and a strong policy emphasis, the scope and diversity of this book will ensure a broad audience amongst economists, political scientists and academics in the fields of labour market theory and policy.

This book examines the effectiveness of active labour market policies and their contribution to the prevention of social exclusion. The evaluation studies reported in this volume focus on two aspects of active labour market policies that have been relatively neglected in previous research and merit special attention.The first part of the book deals with aggregate impact analysis. Using examples from France, Germany, The Netherlands and Spain, the contributors attempt to estimate the impact of active labour market policies on the transition from unemployment to employment using aggregate data at the regional level. Although quantitative in nature, these contributions take into account qualitative aspects such as the socio-economic context of the countries concerned and the structure of active labour market policies. The book then focuses on implementation issues and includes implementation studies carried out in Germany, The Netherlands and Sweden. The qualitative element plays a far more important role in these contributions which rely on case studies and surveys in addition to statistical data.