Managing Accountability and Flexibility in Labour Market Policy

Onderzoeksdoel en vraagstelling

Casestudy Managing accountability and flexibility in labor market policy. Deze OECD LEED studie wordt uitgevoerd met drie andere landen: Canada, Denmarken en België (Vlaanderen). Reden voor deelname aan het onderzoek is dat het inzicht kan geven omtrent de effectiviteit van regionaal en lokaal arbeidsmarktbeleid.

Samenvatting en conclusie

The OECD and its Local Economic and Employment (LEED) Programme conducted a study on managing accountability and flexibility in labour market policy in four countries: Belgium (Flanders), Canada (Alberta and New Brunswick), Denmark and the Netherlands to identify: - What degree of flexibility is available at the local and regional level regarding active labour market policy measures? - How can more flexibility at the local level go together with more effective policy measures while preserving accountability and the achievement of national policy goals? This study has identified a broad consensus on the pivotal role of labour market policy for both economic development and social inclusion in the participating countries. Participants of the high level Aarhus conference on 5th April 2011, Denmark, agreed that careful action locally can help meet national policy goals in terms of economic growth, social inclusion and sustainability. It is equally clear that ensuring flexibility in labour market programming can support increased collaboration and contributions to local strategic planning at the local level, although countries have to plan carefully to overcome the potential downsides of too much flexibility, such as ensuring minimum standards for service delivery and achieving national targets. The four countries appear to be managing this trade-off between flexibility and accountability effectively, although the governance arrangements used each time are very different. Main conclusions: - Local employment offices are collaborating widely and this is having an impact on their policies and programmes; The degree of flexibility an office has is determined by a broad set of management tools; - Accountability and flexibility are not mutually exclusive. Bron: rapport; bewerking RWI