Upload
jasper
View
34
Download
7
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Department of Social Affairs and Employment Directorate ASEA. Klaas Beniers [email protected]. Question:. The socio-economic position of citizens in society (measured by income, status) is to a large extent driven by luck and misfortune. Who agrees?. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Citation preview
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
Department of Social Affairs and EmploymentDirectorate ASEA
Klaas Beniers
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
2 Question:
• The socio-economic position of citizens in society (measured by income, status) is to a large extent driven by luck and misfortune.
• Who agrees?
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
3 Luck and misfortune determines position
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Den Ned Spa Ita Noor Bel Duits VK Zwe Ier Fra Fin Jap Aus Oos IJs Can VS
Source: World Values Survey
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
4 Aim of the Department
• Increase employment rates and improve the functioning of the labour market.
• Take care of the social security system.
• Take care of a balanced distribution of income.
• Establish good relations between unions, employers, and other interest groups.
• Protect employees against risk at work.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
5 Aim and position of ASEA
• The aim of ASEA is to think about the future of the welfare state and the functioning of the economy.
• To analyse, criticize and provide an economic view on policy proposals.
• For this purpose, the directorate is deliberately put on a distance of actual legislative work.
• Small (25 people), all economists, some did a Ph.D.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
6
Questions we answer are:
• Should the welfare state adjust as a reaction to recent trends? Do these adjustments match with the preferences of society?
• Are Pareto improvements possible within the current system?
• How do insights from the scientific literature translate into policy choices?
• How do different parts of the welfare state interact and relate?
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
7 What we do
• Inform the minister and bureaucrats about desirable policy proposals, macro economic conditions, the consequences of proposals for the distribution of income
• Negotiate with other departments.
• Educate non-economist.
• Investigate unsolved problems, cooperate with research institutes.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
8 Trade offs in the welfare state
1) Equity versus efficiency
• Redistributive policies are an insurance against the risk of having a low ability.
• Should we care about the level of income or about the differences between income groups?
• Richard Layard: happiness depends on relative rather than absolute levels of income.
• Unemployment insurance schemes affects moral hazard problems
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
9 Trade offs in the welfare state
2) Solidarity versus the freedom to choose
• Redistribution is one motive for collective arrangements.
• Besides that adverse selection and information problem are a rationale for government intervention.
• However, risks and risk attitudes differ between citizens and moral hazards problems are severe.
• Are citizens rational and forward looking?
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
10 Trade offs in the welfare state
3) Discretion versus the equality of rights
• Central problem: Information asymmetry between the central government and local public officials.
• Discretion for public officials may create inequality between citizens.
• How to induce alignment of preferences between public officials and the central government?
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
11 Preferences of society
•Stable support for redistribution and a large welfare state.
•However, majority supports the claim that the welfare state should adjust.
•Sanctions and monitoring for unemployed are accepted and crucial for support.
•The Netherlands are a high trust society.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
12 Most people can be trusted
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Den Zwe Noor Ned Fin Jap IJs Aus Spa Can VS Ier Duits Oos Ita VK Bel Fra
Source: World Values Survey
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
13 Reasons to adjust?
Trends: Technological change
• Changing functioning of the economy has an impact on the flexibility of employers and employees (education system).
• Different role for employment protection? How to insure employees against the risk of unemployment.
• Polarization of the labour market (Autor, Manning). Consequences for labour market policies and for the distribution of income.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
14 Reasons to adjust?
Trends: Individualisation
• Less support for solidarity and collective arrangements?
• More private insurance schemes?
• Poverty is a bigger problem, many unemployed are single.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
15 Reasons to adjust?
Trends: Ageing
• Pressure for the government budget, health care expenditures increase rapidly.
• Scarcity on the labour market, need to work longer? Changing the pension entitlements?
• How can we ensure solidarity between and within generations.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
16
Relation between number of employees and people receiving a pension.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
17
Current project: Wage-productivity profiles for older workers
• High unemployment for older people.
• Possible reasons: relationship between wage and productivity, perception, financial benefits of retirement?
• Steep wage profiles may work as an incentive device (Lazear) but may create unemployment if jobs disappear.
• Are older workers really less productive in comparison with younger workers?
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
18
Current project: Saving accounts to enhance efficiency of redistribution
• A large part of redistribution is over the life cycle rather than between individuals
Example: financial aid to students.
• Saving accounts are more efficient since they do not distort the decision to work (Bovenberg, Sorensen, Hansen).
• Moreover, saving accounts can alleviate moral hazard problems.
• Question is what kind of arrangements are really redistributive.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
19
Current project: More efficient active labour market policies.
• Examine effectiveness of different instruments. Some programmes may have a strong lock-in effect.
• Towards a more efficient organizational structure. In the current system different public agencies are involved. Moreover, public agencies may have low incentives to perform well.
• Clear distinction between public and private tasks, take use of incentives.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
20 Who can apply
Of course, everybody… but in particular PhD students who:
• Are interested in working on the edge between science and policy making.
• Like to translate scientific results in a new view on the welfare state, to convince and communicate this to other bureaucrats.
• Like to work on both short-term and long-term projects.
• Like to work in a political environment.
Ministerie van Sociale Zakenen Werkgelegenheid
21 What we offer
• Interesting political environment.
• The possibility to translate economic insights into actual policy proposals.
• Working on topics discussed in the public scene.
• Good working conditions.
• Lively and ambitious directorate.