Program accompanying and concluding evaluation of the federal program "Kommunal-Kombi"

The „Kommunal-Kombi“-program started the 01/01/2008 in a total of 79 municipalities, which showed an average rate of unemployment of at least 15% between August 2006 and April 2007. Of these 79 regions, 71 are situated in Eastern Germany. The regions contain 98 SGB II units: 83 consortiums (“Arbeitsgemeinschaften”, in the following: ARGEn), 14 opting municipalities (zkT) and one region with separated task execution (gAw). This program wants to bring long-term unemployed (normally defined as being unemployed for more than two years), which have been receiving SGB II payments for at least one year, into an employment relationship - for a maximum of three years - which is subject to social insurance contribution. It is important to note that the subsidies relate to the created job positions which is contrary to the employment grant (“Beschäftigungszuschuss”) according to § 16a SGB II. Therefore, the job can be staffed with a new employee again, if the original employee should retire. The new participant can only be supported for the rest the time. The job positions are to be created preferably in municipalities, i.e. towns, cities or townships. If the municipality agrees they can also be established at other employers. All jobs ought to be additional and shall be in public interest. The program pursues the following main objectives:

• Creating additional jobs in regions with high and consolidated (long-term) unemployment
• Improving communal services and structures
• Terminating the promoted employees’ dependence on SGB II provisions
• Social stabilisation
• Regenerating, preserving and elevating employability
• Transferring into (non-promoted) employment after the measure

The federal government provides 500 € per job position from federal funds. Furthermore, the remanence costs (“Remanenzkosten”) can be subsidised by ESF (“European Social Fund”) means from the federal government up to 200 €. For employees older than 50 the federal grant elevates to a maximum of 600 € per month. The federal states (“Länder”) can finance the necessary municipalities’ co-payments with Länder funds; however, a combination of Länder and federal ESF is prohibited. Some Länder have issued cofinancing programmes (consisting of Länder funds solely) for Kommunal-Kombi in the meantime. The Federal Administrative Office (“Bundesverwaltungsamt”) is responsible for the administrational implementation of the program.

The evaluation of Kommunal-Kombi consists of the three parts (1) monitoring, (2) control of target achievement and effectiveness and (3) efficiency control. Monitoring will mainly rely on data collected by the Federal Administrative Office. The control of achievements and effectiveness part will examine the two higher-ranking objectives of the program (create additional jobs subject to social insurance contribution and hereby relieve the labour market by reducing long-term unemployment) through macro-econometric analyses. In doing so, the causal effect of using federal program funds on macroeconomic level - also taking regional interweavements into account - is determined. The approach includes the analysis of labour displacement and substitution effects. Nine detailed on-site case studies will analyse the target achievement to improve communal infrastructure through the federal program Kommunal-Kombi. The effects of Kommunal-Kombi on integration into the first labour market as well as on employability advancement are analysed with a differentiated mix of methods. To be able to determine the causal effects of the program with respect to the integration of the participants into the first labour market, a comparison group design is needed to display the counterfactual situation. The comparison group contains persons, who have not been supported by the program, but display similar socio-structural characteristics like the persons participating in the program and originate from the same regions. Above that, it is planned to conduct a participant’s survey to examine the effects of Kommunal-Kombi on the objectives integration into employment and particularly advancement of employability on individual level. Within the field of efficiency control, the efficiency of program implementation and the efficiency of support on participants’ level shall be analysed and a cost-benefit analysis (including the infrastructure effects on communal level) shall be conducted.

The IAW is responsible for the conception and execution of the case studies, the execution of a standardised preparatory questioning, concept and analysis of the participants’ survey as well as the micro-econometric effect analysis.

• Final Report (short version, in German):

Programmbegleitende und abschließende Evaluation des Bundesprogramms Kommunal-Kombi, Endbericht 2013 (Kurzfassung).

• Final Report (in German):

Programmbegleitende und abschließende Evaluation des Bundesprogramms Kommunal-Kombi, Endbericht 2013.