Evaluation of the Effects of Active Labour Market Policies of the Public Employment Service Lower Austria for Long-term Unemployed Persons

Active labour market policies are a key means of combating long-term unemployment – one of the most important challenges facing OECD countries like Austria. Despite a now extensive evaluation literature, there is still a lack of a complete international picture of which measures effectively improve the re-employment chances of the long-term unemployed. The present study examines the effectiveness of the seven central qualification and employment programs of the Public Employment Service Lower Austria for long-term unemployed persons. All the measures evaluated counteract a withdrawal of the supported persons from the labour market. Specialist qualification, whether education and training by external training providers or courses on the free education market subsidised by course cost subsidies, also significantly improves integration into unsubsidised employment. The same applies to wage subsidies in the private sector and to direct job creation in the public‐ or non-profit‐sector. For basic qualification, vocational orientation and courses to support job search, these positive effects are less clear or less pronounced.