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Alessio J. G. Brown

United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), Netherlands

IZA World of Labor is a unique knowledge resource on the state of research on economic labor market issues highlighting implications for evidence-based policy making and for the wider society!

IZA World of Labor role

Author

Current position

Co-Director of POP at the United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT); Managing Editor, Journal of Population Economics

Research interest

Employment incentives and policies, globalization and welfare state reform, labor market models and dynamics

Website

https://www.merit.unu.edu/about-us/profile/?staff_id=2356

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Senior Consultant on Active Labor Market Policies, Social Insurance and Skills Measurement, World Bank, Washington, DC, USA; Co-Founder and Executive Director, Global Economic Symposium (GES), Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany

Past positions

Head of the Research Area “Reforming the Welfare Society”, Kiel Institute for the World Economy, Kiel, Germany

Qualifications

Doctor scientiarum politicarum, Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, 2009

Selected publications

  • “An incentive theory of matching.” Macroeconomic Dynamics 19:3 (2015): 643–668 (with C. Merkl and D. J. Snower).

  • “The minimum wage from a two-sided perspective.” Economics Letters 14:3 (2014): 389–931 (with C. Merkl and D. J. Snower).

  • “Comparing the effectiveness of employment subsidies.” Labour Economics 18:2 (2011): 168–179 (with C. Merkl and D. J. Snower).

  • “Globalization and the welfare state: A review of Hann Werner Sinn’s Can Germany be Saved?.” Journal of Economic Literature 47:1 (2009): 136–158 (with C. Merkl and D. J. Snower).

  • “Unemployment accounts and employment incentives.” European Journal of Political Economy 24:3 (2008): 587–604.

article(s)

  • Can hiring subsidies benefit the unemployed?

    Hiring subsidies can be a very cost-effective way of helping the unemployed, but only when they are carefully targeted

    Alessio J. G. Brown, June 2015
    Long-term unemployment can lead to skill attrition and have detrimental effects on future employment prospects, particularly following periods of economic crises when employment growth is slow and cannot accommodate high levels of unemployment. Addressing this problem requires the use of active labor market policies targeted at the unemployed. In this context, hiring subsidies can provide temporary incentives for firms to hire unemployed workers and, when sensibly targeted, are a very cost-effective and efficient means of reducing unemployment, during both periods of economic stability and recovery.
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