The OECD Jobs Strategy and the European Employment Strategy: Two Views of the Labour Market and the Welfare State

Abstract

High unemployment in the 1990s prompted policy responses at supranational as well as national levels, notably the OECD Jobs Strategy and the European Employment Strategy. Both strategies reflect a supply-side orientation, but the European strategy pays more attention to the role of ‘social partners’, the potential negative consequences of certain policy responses, and the interconnections between employment and social protection policies. Each strategy was subject to evaluation by its sponsor and, regardless of evidence, was judged a success. Thus, even if there is ‘one view of the labour market’ and there are, perhaps, ‘two views of the welfare state’, there is also a shared approach to evaluation.