Indicators and policies to make work pay

The Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs hosted a workshop on making-work-pay policies and indicators in March 2005, a particularly opportune moment to discuss these issues since it coincided with the new start for the Lisbon strategy with its increased focus on growth and jobs.

The purpose of the workshop was to contribute to the debate on reforms of tax and benefit systems. It took stock of the most recent studies by academic researchers in this area and brought some recently developed indicators on work incentives to the attention of the participants. It also provided an opportunity for discussion between academic researchers and labour market experts in national administrations and EU institutions.

The papers presented in the workshop demonstrate that there are tangible benefits in bringing together academic researchers and national policy-makers to exploit research findings, compare experiences and exchange best practices to shape further reforms. This volume brings those contributions together. They shed light on highly topical issues such as indicators on incentives, the role of incentives, eligibility rules and enforcement, the responsiveness of labour supply and the lessons that can be learnt from national labour market reforms.