This book describes the modalities of a relevant evaluation of labor market actions, which often involves the setting up of control groups, a practice that is not widely practiced in France. It also outlines the main findings of randomized studies in North America and Europe. Read More
'We've tried everything to fix unemployment’, François Mitterrand declared over thirty years ago. However, it would doubtless be helpful to consider whether we truly ever gave ourselves the means to learn. Since we did not sufficiently invest in a truly scientific assessment of employment policies, our understanding of the root causes of unemployment, as well as our ability to solve this problem, have scarcely advanced.
However, certain programmes involving training, support and employment subsidies as implemented in developed countries have been meticulously studied. Their weak overall impact is proof that we shall not be able to eliminate unemployment merely by investing in one action or another.
But these programmes could be improved and help to conquer unemployment, following a detailed analysis of needs and behaviours, as well as a number of rigorous large-scale evaluations. Finally, we should perhaps put aside our impatience to test out new actions — without giving ourselves the time to study their effects — in order to escape the trap of long-term unemployment?
Introduction
Chapitre 1 LES PRINCIPAUX ENSEIGNEMENTS DES ÉVALUATIONS RANDOMISÉES
Améliorer l'appariement des demandeurs d'emploi et des emplois vacants
Améliorer les qualifications des demandeurs d'emploi
Chapitre 2 LES ANALYSES COÛT-BÉNÉFICE
Le cadre d’analyse et les données requises
Quelques résultats d’évaluations coût-bénéfice
La mesure de l’impact sur d’autres dimensions du bien-être
Chapitre 3 LE CIBLAGE
Des impacts très différents d’une population à l’autre
Les implications de ces effets en termes de ciblage des programmes
Chapitre 4 LES EFFETS D’ÉQUILIBRE
Mécanismes principaux potentiellement à l’oeuvre
Utiliser les évaluations randomisées pour mettre en évidence les effets d’équilibre
Chapitre 5 LES MÉCANISMES
Assistance aux demandeurs d’emploi ou surveillance de leur effort de recherche ?
Accroissement de la productivité ou amélioration du « signalement » des demandeurs ?
L’importance des détails
Quelle combinaison de programmes considérer ?
La demande pour les programmes
Des effets inattendus des subventions
Conclusion