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Purpose -- Labor market programs may affect unemployed individuals' behavior before they enroll. The aim of this paper is to study whether such ex ante effects differ according to ethnic origin. Design/methodology/approach -- The authors apply a method that relates self-reported perceived treatment rates and job search behavioral outcomes, such as the reservation wage or search intensity, to each other. German native workers are compared with migrants with a Turkish origin or Central and Eastern European (including Russian) background. Job search theory is used to derive theoretical predictions. The ex ante effect of the German active labor market program (ALMP) system is examined using the novel IZA Evaluation Data Set which includes self-reported assessments of the variables of interest as well as an unusually detailed amount of information on behavior, attitudes and past outcomes. Findings -- It is found that the ex ante threat effect on the reservation wage and search effort varies considerably among the groups considered. Originality/value -- The study is the first to investigate whether migrants and natives react similarly to the expectation of participating in an ALMP, and whether migrants of different regions of origin react similarly or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and the human-capital determinants of low-wage mobility for labour market entrants in the UK and Germany. Design/methodology/approach -- Using panel data for the UK (BHPS) and Germany (GSOEP), a competing-risks duration model is applied that allows the study of transitions from low pay to competing destination states: higher pay, self-employment, unemployment and inactivity. Unobserved heterogeneity is tackled by a non-parametric mass-point approach. Findings -- It is found that low pay is only a temporary state for most young job starters. However, there is a small group of job starters that is caught in a trap of low pay, unemployment or inactivity. In the UK, job starters escape from low pay mainly by developing firm-specific skills. In Germany, involvement in formal vocational training and the attainment of apprenticeship qualifications account for low pay exits. Originality/value -- Over the past decades, unemployment and low-wage employment have emerged as major challenges facing young labour market entrants. While most empirical studies focus exclusively on the transition from low pay to high pay, the paper shows that a significant percentage of young entrants are caught in a low-pay-non-employment trap. Moreover, it is shown that, depending on the institutional context, different types of human capital investments can account for a successful low-pay exit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The paper aims to present an analysis of the indirect and direct effects of active labour market policy measures at the regional level for Western Germany. Design/methodology/approach -- Most evaluation studies of active labour market policy focus on the microeconometric treatment effect using individual data and do not account for possible indirect effects like deadweight and substitution effects. The present study uses a dynamic specification of the augmented matching function at the regional level. A dynamic panel data model is estimated using monthly and regional variation of different labour market programmes as explanatory variables. Furthermore, spatial interactions are taken into account by adding a spatially correlated error term. Findings -- Almost no significant negative effects are found of the stock of participants in programmes of labour market policy on the number of outflows from unemployment into regular jobs. Thus, contrary to findings at the individual level, no lock-in effect is found. The number of programme participants does not reduce the number of outflows from unemployment. On the other hand when looking not at the stocks but on the outflows from programmes, no positive effects on outflows from unemployment at the regional level are found. Research limitations/implications -- Because of data limitations only a period up to six months after completing a programme is used. Originality/value -- The authors distinguish between the effects of the stock of programme participants and of the outflows from programmes. Furthermore, the authors account for spatially correlated error terms by using a GM estimator proposed by Muff in 2006. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Against the growing demand for the STEM labour force, the study examines labour market returns to STEM qualifications among immigrants who arrived in Germany since the 1980s. Analysing the German microcensus data for years 2015 and 2016, we demonstrate that skilled immigrants with STEM qualifications largely attain better labour market outcomes in Germany compared to immigrants without STEM qualifications, thus narrowing the gap to their native-born counterparts. Male immigrants succeed in utilizing their STEM capital better than female immigrants, but all immigrants face difficulties in translating their STEM qualifications into STEM employment. Our analyses further focus on returns to various STEM qualifications, attesting that medical qualifications are especially beneficial for Germany's female immigrants. The analysis of heterogeneous effects of STEM qualifications across major migrant groups reveals that Eastern European male immigrants make the best of their STEM qualifications, whereas among women, STEM qualified from Turkey or MENA countries are the most successful. These and other findings are discussed both from the supply and demand sides of the labour market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The normative and political call for an inclusive working world as the UNCRPD explicates is not consistent with the current employment realities of people with disabilities in Germany and in the Nordic countries such as Iceland, Norway or Sweden. Only a fraction is able to find employment on the labour market, while segregated systems are expanding at the same time. We reference the 'Work 4.0' discourse with a particular focus on substitutability potentials and automation processes in the course of digitalization. These developments go hand in hand with the pluralization of employment constellations as well as progressive expansion of education and devaluation of qualifications. This article takes a critical look at these processes of change in the working world with regard to their effects on people with disabilities. The central contradictions between political, legal, and normative demands for employment realities to be organized inclusively as well current developments in the area of technology, employment, and knowledge are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the German labour market development during the Great Recession as well as in the years before and until 2015. Germany's labour market witnessed a strong upswing during the recent decade and performed remarkably well in the Great Recession. Structural reforms before the crisis had improved the functioning of the labour market and initiated a solid upward trend that also helped overcome the crisis. High establishment-level flexibility allowed buffering the severe drop in GDP. While the employment upswing continued until today, critical developments concerned the increase in atypical jobs, weak wage growth and rising inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German construction companies traditionally rely on qualified workers. This has influenced both their production model (work organization on site) and their policy towards training and education. Due to the massive inflow of workers from countries with low labour costs, firms may fundamentally change this model to a new one which is distinguished by the combination of less qualified workers with a larger number of managers for instruction, supervision and control. This change is initially likely to have a considerable knock-on effect on the training system. However, what is even worse is that the new model is not likely to work in the long run. To date the construction industry has acquired its site managers and supervisors directly from the pool of qualified workers. By reducing training it produces a shortage of the very resource inevitably needed to be able to reduce training. The industry will fall into a qualifications trap. `What is more significant is that this trap is shown as a first step towards lowering corporate image, quality of human resources, productivity and, in the end, competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]