The effects of active labor market policies in Kosovo on employment growth

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68

The e

f‌f

ects o

f

active labor market policies in Kosovo on emplo

y

ment growt

h

Sa

m

i

A

hm

e

t

i

Abs

tr

ac

t

A

ctive Labor Market Policy (

A

LMP) is an instrument that countries with fragile economies

use in response to high unemployment especially vulnerable groups such as youth, women,

people with disabilities, etc. Through these policies, the direct intervention of the state is aimed

a

t increasing the likelihood of employment of jobseekers and persons who are economically

a

ctive. For countries in transition such as Kosovo, where there is a hi

g

h rate of emi

g

ration

a

nd labor mismatch as a result of the transition from a socialist system to a market economy

s

ystem, these policies are necessary and perhaps even necessary.

I

n this paper, we provide a

c

ritical overview of active policies implemented in Kosovo, how they are implemented, their

e

f‌f ects and the dif‌f‌i culties and problems arising from their implementation. The basic data o

f

t

he analysis will be those derived from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Department

o

f Labor and

E

mployment (DL

E

).

Ke

y

words

:

A

LMP, unemployment, economy, transition, DL

E.

I

ntr

oduc

t

io

n

Th

e

h

ig

h

an

d

stea

dy

unem

pl

o

y

ment rate

h

as

b

een a major

bl

ot in t

h

e economic

and social records o

f

most

OE

CD countries. From 1973 to 1997 the unem

p

lo

y

ment

r

ate increased

f

rom 3.2% to 7.3%.

I

n res

p

onse to this uncontrolled increase in

u

nem

pl

o

y

ment,

OE

CD Ministers gave t

h

e organization a man

d

ate in 1992 to ana

ly

ze

the causes and conse

q

uences o

f

this continued increase and have

p

ro

p

osed wa

y

s and

f

orms to deal with this

p

roblem (Martin, 1998). The

f‌i

rst

f

ruits o

f

this work were

p

ublished in 1994 and include a list o

f

more than 60 detailed recommendations

f

or

this

p

henomenon. This included an examination o

f

how

A

ctive Labor Market Polic

y

(

A

LMP) can be turned into a

p

ower

f

ul tool in the

f‌i

ght against high and

p

ersistent

u

nem

pl

o

y

ment.

I

n

p

articu

l

ar, states soug

h

t to answer t

h

e

q

uestion: wh

a

t

is

th

e

p

otential contribution which active labor market policies can make as part o

f

a strategy to

combat high and persistent unemployment and the problems o

f

low pay and poverty among

the workin

g

-a

g

e

p

o

p

ulation

?

OE

CD countries have worked hard on this

q

uestion and

what has been

f

ound is that active

p

olicies have a ver

y

great

p

otential in reducing the

u

nem

pl

o

y

ment rate.

A

ctive

l

a

b

or mar

k

et

p

o

l

icies (

A

LMP) are consi

d

ere

d

t

h

ose too

l

s w

h

ic

h

are use

d

by

the government o

f

a countr

y

to increase em

p

lo

y

ment o

pp

ortunities

f

or individuals

o

f

di

f‌f

erent social strata, es

p

eciall

y

those who

f

eel discriminated like

f

or exam

p

le:

p

eo

pl

e wit

h

d

isa

b

i

l

ities, women,

y

out

h

, etc. So, un

l

i

k

e

p

assive

p

o

l

icies, in t

h

e active

p

olicies, the state intervenes directl

y

through measures which it sets in order to

ac

h

ieve t

h

e a

b

ove o

bj

ectives (

Al

iu, 2015).

O

ne o

f

the major

p

roblems

f

acing Kosovo toda

y

is

y

outh unem

p

lo

y

ment. Kosovo

h

as t

h

e

y

oungest average age com

p

are

d

to a

ll

countries in t

h

e region an

d

h

as a

l

arge