| Summary: |
During the last decade, many European countries introduced extensive reforms�to the implementation structures through which income protection and activation programmes for the unemployed are implemented and delivered. These governance reforms include: the creation of markets for the provision of activation and employment services, the promotion of cooperation between benefit and employment agencies, processes of decentralizing policy making authority and�the introduction of new public management in the public sector. This collection�analyses and compares these reforms, exploring a relatively new research area. Covering nine European countries -�the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Sweden and Finland - it focuses on the reform programmes themselves, and on what is known about their effects, arguing that governance structures are not without consequences for the social programmes they implement and deliver. |