Why targeting matters: The apprenticeship program for youth in the Czech Republic

In this paper, we analyze the targeting and outcomes of the apprenticeship program implemented under the Youth Guarantee/YG scheme in the Czech Republic. We examine the outcomes and targeting using counterfactual impact evaluation (quasi-experimental design) of the apprenticeship program on the basis of administrative data from the Czech Employment Office. The implementation strategy is analyzed using various policy documents. The findings indicate that the program is apparently targeted at those groups of young people who are less disadvantaged as regards education level and previous unemployment experience. At the same time, paradoxically, the effects in terms of outflows from the unemployment register are weak for the short-term and medium-term unemployed, as well as for low-skilled and high-skilled youth, and stronger effects are evident in the case of long-term unemployed and medium-skilled youth. The failures in targeting and in adjusting the program to the needs of more vulnerable groups of youth are due to an inconsistent implementation strategy of Czech Public Employment Services.     

Those Who Pay the Piper Calls the Tune: Meta-Organisation and Capacities of the Third Sector in Migration Policies

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - In this paper, we examine the changing landscape of migration policy work conducted by civil society organisations (CSOs)...     

Some Remarks about Robust Estimation of the Scale Parameter in Weighted Models

Using Zieliński's (1977 Zieliński , R. ( 1977 ). Robustness: a quantitative approach . Bull. Acad. Polon. Sci., Ser. Sci. Math. Astronom. Phys. 25 : 1281 – 1286 . [Google Scholar]) concept of robustness, B?a?ej (2007 B?a?ej , P. ( 2007 ). Robust estimation of the scale and weighted distributions . Appl. Math. (Warsaw) 34 : 39 – 45 . [Google Scholar]) obtained the uniformly most bias-robust estimates (UMBREs) of the scale parameter for some statistical models, in a class of linear functions of order statistics. Violations of the models are generated by weight functions. In this article the UMBRE of the scale parameter, based on order statistics, a more general weighted model is derived. Extension of a result of B?a?ej (2007 B?a?ej , P. ( 2007 ). Robust estimation of the scale and weighted distributions . Appl. Math. (Warsaw) 34 : 39 – 45 . [Google Scholar]) is given.