This new European Commission initiative, submitted last week to EU Member States, argues for more support to be provided by jobcentres to the long-term unemployed. It is based on evidence from a number of academic studies, including a study by Pedro Martins, Professor of Applied Economics at the School of Business and Management (SBM).
The study, 'Reemployment and Substitution Effects from Increased Activation: Evidence from Times of Crisis', finds that the engagement, support and monitoring of the public employment services towards the unemployed can have a significant effect in promoting transitions back to employment.The study draws on a "counterfactual impact evaluation” statistical methodology, regression discontinuity, which can be particularly informative in the evaluation of public programmes. The study also draws on a large data set of hundreds of thousands of observations.
More information on the European Union initiative: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=2319The citation of Professor Martins’ research can be found in the European Commission staff working paper accompanying the proposal: http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=14481&langId=enThe study by Professor Martins, together with Sofia Pessoa e Costa, a research associate at the School, is also available in the SBM Centre for Globalisation Research working paper series: https://ideas.repec.org/p/cgs/wpaper/52.html