Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy. Country report: Germany

"High levels of unemployment, or high levels of social expenditures as well as the growing demand for a flexible labour force have given new impetus to the world-wide discussion on what model to use for an efficiently operating labour market and in particular on the role of institutions. Althou...

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Main Authors: Ebbinghaus, Bernhard, Eichhorst, Werner
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Amsterdam 2007
AIAS
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19126476124919446589-Distribution-of-responsibility.htm
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author Ebbinghaus, Bernhard
Eichhorst, Werner
author_facet Ebbinghaus, Bernhard
Eichhorst, Werner
collection Library items
description "High levels of unemployment, or high levels of social expenditures as well as the growing demand for a flexible labour force have given new impetus to the world-wide discussion on what model to use for an efficiently operating labour market and in particular on the role of institutions. Although there seems to be a growing consensus on the restricted governmental role in recent decades, this has not been translated into a unanimous appraisal of the role of intermediary organisations, such as trade unions. There is no clear view on an appropriate distribution of responsibility between government, social partners and the market. The research project ‘distribution of responsibility for social security’ aims to create a scientific basis for a clear and consistent view on the role and distribution of responsibilities between the different labour market institutions. As part of this research project, this paper provides an elaborate country study of Germany. In short, it is shown that for both employment protection and unemployment benefits the basic features are defined by law. In that sense, government and parliament are crucial for shaping the system, following more a political logic of office-seeking and vote maximisation. The role of social partners is largely limited to collective bargaining. There are collective labour agreements on additional employment protection through sectoral or enterprise-level agreements. Private actors have become more prominent as contracting-out of active labour market policy services has grown over the last decade, most significantly in the area of job placement and training. As for the labour market performance, the German labour market is highly segmented with persistent long-term unemployment and low labour market integration of more vulnerable groups. Participation rates are modest, mainly due to low female participation and early retirement."
format TEXT
geographic Germany
id 19126476124919446589_02ad09d4d31348a18c611907ee1929f4
institution ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
is_hierarchy_id 19126476124919446589_02ad09d4d31348a18c611907ee1929f4
is_hierarchy_title Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy. Country report: Germany
language English
physical 79 p.
Digital
publishDate 2007
publisher Amsterdam
AIAS
spellingShingle Ebbinghaus, Bernhard
Eichhorst, Werner
employers organization
employment security
social partners
social security
statistics
trade union role
labour market policy
Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy. Country report: Germany
thumbnail https://www.labourline.org/Image_prev.jpg?Archive=100663592884
title Distribution of responsibility for social security and labour market policy. Country report: Germany
topic employers organization
employment security
social partners
social security
statistics
trade union role
labour market policy
url https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19126476124919446589-Distribution-of-responsibility.htm