Unemployment, wages, and the impact of active labour market policies in a regional perspective

Labour markets within countries vary in their performance. Some regions suffer from labour shortages, while others are faced with high unemployment figures. Furthermore structure and qualification of the workforce differs, and real wage patterns show diverging pictures between and within regions. Based on these empirical facts this study sheds some light on the wage unemployment relation and the impact active labour market policies has on this. Basic assumption is that market imperfections lead to unemployment in regional labour markets, partly owing to region-specific wage structures, and that active labour market policies can alleviate this problem. Five aspects are focused: The interaction of regional unemployment and wages based on the wage curve, the question how qualification patterns influence the regional wage level, the effectiveness of regional labour market policies, the impact of these policies on regional wage-setting, and the impact of employment service performance on real wages.