Employment Guarantee Policies: Theory and Practice

Levy Economics Institute of Bard College
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York

October 13–14, 2006

This conference focused on those government policy initiatives that can create a safety net through public service employment for individuals who are ready, willing, and able to work but find themselves in an economic environment that does not offer employment opportunities.

Unemployment and involuntary “inactivity” are structural macroeconomic problems of both developed and developing economies. The negative effects of unemployment reach beyond the immediate economic losses to individuals and their families. The effects extend to the potential growth of the economy. Protracted periods of unemployment lead to multidimensional poverty, deterioration of communities, erosion of decent job conditions, and intolerance along racial and gender divides. There appears a connection, then, between the right to work and the role of government in guaranteeing employment. This connection ought to be part of the public policy dialogue.

The International Working Group on Gender, Macroeconomics, and International Economics (GEM-IWG), a global knowledge-sharing and capacity-building network, generously provided support for the conference by securing the participation and contributions of several GEM-IWG members.

The conference proceedings include edited transcripts of the keynote speakers’ remarks, summaries of session participants’ presentations, and biographies of all participants.