Delivering employability in a vanguard ‘active' welfare state: the case of Greater Copenhagen in Denmark

Paper by Colin Lindsay & Mikkel Mailand

Denmark has regularly been cited as a leading example of the 'active' welfare state. Regional and local governance and delivery structures have been crucial to the implementation of Denmark's strategies to improve the employability of unemployed job seekers. This paper traces the development, implementation and effectiveness of regional and local labour market structures in Denmark, particularly focusing on the country's largest region - Greater Copenhagen.

Drawing on interviews with key stakeholders and case study research, the paper critically analyses the performance of: a) the regional structures that have, until recently, provided the main framework for planning employability strategies for claimants of contributions-based benefits; and b) municipality-led employability services for social assistance claimants delivered at the local level. It is argued that Denmark has successfully established effective regional governance structures, which have included employers in the planning of provision for job seekers, while allowing for the tailoring of employability services to reflect the dynamics of local labour markets. However, there remain concerns that the increasing use of compulsion has undermined efforts to ensure that programmes deliver sustainable, high quality outcomes for job seekers. Recent reforms that will effectively dismantle regional structures in favour of more localised forms of governance also threaten the capacity of future employability programmes to secure the 'buy in' of employers and to respond to changing labour market conditions.

Paper for Regional Studies Association Working Group, Napier University, Edinburgh, 4-5 October 2007.