Table of Contents

Introduction.- Background for the Empirical Analyses: Institutional Details and Data.- Centralized versus Decentralized Welfare Administration.- The Employment Effects of an Intensified Use of Benefit Sanctions.- The Effectiveness of Temporary Extra Jobs and Short-Term Training Programs.- Fiscal Cost-Benefit Analyses for Temporary Extra Jobs and Short-Term Training Programs.- Conclusions.- Appendices.

About the Author

Thomas Walter studied Economics at the University of Hannover and at the University of Bristol with special emphasis on economic policy, labour economics and econometrics. He works at the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim as a researcher in the department of "Labour Markets, Human Resources and Social Policy". His research focuses on the labour market activation of welfare recipients.