Evaluating What Works for Whom in Active Labour Market Policies

In order to make informed and legitimate decisions in labour market policies, European and national policy makers need better knowledge of what type of interventions works for whom. The European Commission and many Member States have high hopes that ‘experimental evaluation’ techniques (such as randomised controlled experiments, systematic meta-analysis and econometric outcome evaluations) will deliver solid and clear evidence to inform the development of more rational decision-making processes. This article reviews the evaluation literature on Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP) and examines what works for whom, under what circumstances. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the current drive towards ‘experimental evaluation’ and proposes an integrated framework for ALMP evaluation that combines ‘experimental evaluation’ with ‘programme theory evaluations' and quantitative with qualitative data collection.