<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Hiring subsidies are widely used to create (stable) employment for the long-term unemployed. This paper exploits the abolition of a hiring subsidy targeted at long-term unemployed jobseekers older than 45 years of age in Belgium to evaluate its effectiveness in the short and medium run. Based on a triple-difference methodology, the hiring subsidy is shown to increase the job-finding rate by 13% without any evidence of spillover effects. This effect is driven by a positive effect on individuals with at least a bachelor's degree. However, the hiring subsidy mainly creates temporary short-lived employment: eligible jobseekers are not more likely to find employment that lasts at least 12 consecutive months compared with ineligible jobseekers.</p>
</abstract>

Hiring subsidies are widely used to create (stable) employment for the long-term unemployed. This paper exploits the abolition of a hiring subsidy targeted at long-term unemployed jobseekers older than 45 years of age in Belgium to evaluate its effectiveness in the short and medium run. Based on a triple-difference methodology, the hiring subsidy is shown to increase the job-finding rate by 13% without any evidence of spillover effects. This effect is driven by a positive effect on individuals with at least a bachelor's degree. However, the hiring subsidy mainly creates temporary short-lived employment: eligible jobseekers are not more likely to find employment that lasts at least 12 consecutive months compared with ineligible jobseekers.

How effective are hiring subsidies in reducing long-term unemployment among prime-aged jobseekers? Evidence from Belgium

IZA Journal of Labor Policy

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Hiring subsidies are widely used to create (stable) employment for the long-term unemployed. This paper exploits the abolition of a hiring subsidy targeted at...

How effective are hiring subsidies in reducing long-term unemployment among prime-aged jobseekers? Evidence from Belgium

Published Online: May 07, 2022

Page range: -

Accepted: Feb 23, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2022-0003

Keywords
hiring subsidies, long-term unemployment, prime-aged jobseekers, triple difference, temporary help agencies

© 2022 Sam Desiere et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How effective are hiring subsidies in reducing long-term unemployment among prime-aged jobseekers? Evidence from Belgium

Published Online: May 07, 2022

Page range: -

Accepted: Feb 23, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajolp-2022-0003

Keywordshiring subsidies, long-term unemployment, prime-aged jobseekers, triple difference, temporary help agencies

© 2022 Sam Desiere et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
hiring subsidies, long-term unemployment, prime-aged jobseekers, triple difference, temporary help agencies