Financial incentives and job-search training: methods to increase labour market integration in contemporary welfare states?

In their efforts to increase labour market integration, contemporary welfare states emphasize the importance of financial incentives, active job-searching and participation in labour market programmes. However, the effects of these policies have been minor and in some cases even inconsistent. The aim of this study was to examine whether and how financial incentives and job-search training programmes increase re-employment and the quality of re-employment. A total of 1,015 unemployed persons participated in a Finnish follow-up study with a randomized experimental design. Although no overall impact of job-search training on re-employment emerged, a positive effect was found for those groups of the unemployed who had a financial incentive to participate in the programme. Nevertheless, among unemployed workers with benefits at a minimum level there were no positive effects on the quality of re-employment, and the impact decreased when unemployment was prolonged. Financial incentives and job-search training appear to increase re-employment among those of the unemployed who generally have better chances on the labour market, whereas these measures are not sufficient for the more disadvantaged groups of the unemployed.