Naslov
Evaluation of program of public works in Croatia

Autori
Walsh, Kenneth ; Švaljek, Sandra ; Milas, Goran ; van Winden, Pieter ; Dorenbos, Ruud ;

Izvornik
NEI Labour and Education

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, elaborat/studija

Godina
2001

Ključne riječi
evaluation; public works; Croatia

Sažetak
The above analysis showed that the public works programme did not have positive impact on employability of people who participated the programme because there were fewer participants of the programme who became employed than the members of the control group. In addition, costs of public works programme per employed person proved to be high in comparison with other active labour market policy measures. Both facts lead to the conclusion that there is not reason why the government should continue to implement this measure. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the participants of the public works programme belong to the group of unemployed with low chances of becoming employed, and that they cannot be compared to the average unemployed person. If adjusted for some characteristics of the participants like age, level of education and number of jobs in last 3 years to make participants and the members of the control group more alike, the difference between the employability of the two disappear. One of the reasons for the low impact of public works programme on employability of the participants lies perhaps in general lack of labour demand in the country, which is, naturally, even more pronounced in case of the long-term unemployed persons. In addition, it should be stressed that, besides achieving direct positive effect on the employment, the public works programme may have some positive social and economic benefits to society, such as gaining some working experience, re-establishing social contacts and counteracting social exclusion. In addition, it should be stressed that, besides achieving direct positive effect on the employment, the public works programme could be used to avoid some negative indirect effects of the unemployment, especially of the long-term unemployment, such as crime, addiction, suicide etc. The perception of the programme participants shows that there are good reasons to believe that the public works programme in Croatia had such positive externalities. Needless to say that the local government entities, as the main employers in the public works programme experienced positive effects of the programmes themselves, because the public works help them in undertaking some extremely useful actions they could not otherwise afford. All the insights of this analysis lead us to the conclusion that the government should not rely massively on public works as a measure of fighting unemployment, but that they should be used in combination with other active labour market policy measures, especially when the financial situation allows it. Some international comparisons give us additional policy implication related to the creation of public works programmes in the future, and that is that it would maybe be reasonable to take into consideration even a lower public works wage, which would allow more people to be involved in the programmes.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Ekonomija

POVEZANOST RADA