Plausibly Exogenous [1682] - Public Employment (09/10/2024)

LHS Variable
Job placements among the unemployed

RHS Variable
Decentralization of public employment services (PES)

Source of Exogenous Variation
Implemented in 2012, the German policy reform involved the devolution of public employment offices – referred to as ‘job centers' hereafter – to the district level within 41 of Germany's 402 districts. Before the 2012 reform, individual job center policies were determined under the guidelines, directives, and supervision of the Federal Employment Agency (FEA), in cooperation with local authorities. After 2012, authorities of the 41 treated districts were free to independently manage and stipulate these policies.

- Mergele and Weber (2020), “Public employment services under decentralization: Evidence from a natural experiment”