How effective are hiring subsidies in reducing long-term unemployment among prime-aged jobseekers? Evidence from Belgium

Hiring subsidies are widely used to create (stable) employment for the long-term unemployed. This paper exploits the abolition of a hiring subsidy targeted at long-term unemployed jobseekers older than 45 years of age in Belgium to evaluate its effectiveness in the short and medium run. Based on a triple-difference methodology, the hiring subsidy is shown to increase the job-finding rate by 13% without any evidence of spillover effects. This effect is driven by a positive effect on individuals with at least a bachelor's degree. However, the hiring subsidy mainly creates temporary short-lived e... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Desiere, Sam
Cockx, Bart
Dokumenttyp: journalarticle
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Schlagwörter: Business and Economics / Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management / Economics and Econometrics / Industrial relations / hiring subsidies / long-term unemployment / prime-aged jobseekers / triple difference / temporary help agencies / LABOR-MARKET POLICIES / WORKERS EVIDENCE / EARNINGS LOSSES / WAGE SUBSIDIES / EMPLOYMENT / RECIPIENTS / BENEFIT
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-28959455
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8752523

Hiring subsidies are widely used to create (stable) employment for the long-term unemployed. This paper exploits the abolition of a hiring subsidy targeted at long-term unemployed jobseekers older than 45 years of age in Belgium to evaluate its effectiveness in the short and medium run. Based on a triple-difference methodology, the hiring subsidy is shown to increase the job-finding rate by 13% without any evidence of spillover effects. This effect is driven by a positive effect on individuals with at least a bachelor's degree. However, the hiring subsidy mainly creates temporary short-lived employment: eligible jobseekers are not more likely to find employment that lasts at least 12 consecutive months compared with ineligible jobseekers.