Regional/local landscapes of policy making

Regional/local landscapes of policy-making refers to specific forms of embedding of LLL policies in the regional economy, the labour market and individual life projects of young adults at regional and local level. It thus analytically distinguishes policy-making from common (inter-) national institutional/cultural specificities and socio-economic structures as conditioning and affecting LLL-policies at national level. In YOUNG_ADULLLT, LLL policies are seen as embedded in specific regional and local institutional frameworks, education/training and labour markets, and a landscape of informal initiatives, all of which determine to a substantial extent policies’ ability to be effective. Discerning regional/local landscapes of policy-making allows us to enquire into the interaction and complementarity of LLL policies and policy-making with other sectorial policies in their regional/local context.

Regional/local networks and landscapes of policy-making in LLL bring together the structural and institutional frameworks in education/training and labour market at the macro-level (European, national) and the regional/local networks and landscapes of policy-making in LLL. While the former serve as contextual frames of reference for LLL policies, it is on the regional/local level that policies interact with specific networks, institutional frameworks, and structural conditions, that impact on and to a substantial degree determine policies’ ability to be successful. Overall, the underlying assumption is that different institutional frameworks, traditions and arrangements between economy, labour market and education and training systems produce different skill demands and supply structures (new political economy of skills), give rise to different types of networks and generate distinct patterns of (coordinated) policy-making. An important aspect related to this concept in YOUNG_ADULLLT is related to identifying best practices and defining a set of indicators and parameters necessary for coordinated policy-making at regional/local level by analyzing different specific modes or patterns of integration between economic, educational/occupational and social policies.

YOUNG_ADULLLT draws from extant typological and classificatory research that focus on national specificities and types (see below) but emphasizes the importance of the regional level for the successful functioning and integration of economy, labour and education/training policies in different functional regions. In terms of identifying and understanding specific forms of embedding of LLL policies at regional and local levels, YOUNG_ADULLLT draws from research on skill formation regimes in terms of different ways of arranging and coordinating economic relations via complementarities between labour relations and corporate governance, labour relations and the national training system, and corporate governance and inter-firm relations (Goergen et al., 2012; Thelen, 2004; Brown et al., 2001). It also benefits from insights from typological research on organisational vs. occupational labour market (Shavit & Müller, 1998; Müller & Gangl, 2003) and education systems (Allmendinger, 1989), school-to-work transition arrangements (Walther & Pohl 2005; Walther 2006); on types of feedback mechanisms between education systems and labour sectors (CEDEFOP, 2013) as well as on diverse types of relationship among the actors of the systems within different types of LLL-regimes across Europe (Verdier, 2012).

References

Allmendinger, J. (1989). Educational Systems and Labor Market Outcomes. European Sociological Review, Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 231-250.

Brown, P., Green, A. & Lauder, H. (2001). High Skills: Globalization, Competiveness, and Skill Formatio,. Oxford: Oxford UP.

Goergen, M., Brewster, C., Wood, G. & Wilkinson, A. (2012). Varieties of Capitalism and Investments in Human Capital. Industrial Relations, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 501-527.

Müller, W. & Gangl M. (Eds.) (2003). Transitions from Education to Work in Europe: the Integration of Youth on EU Labour Markets, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Shavit, Y. & Müller, W. (Eds.) (1998). From School to Work. A Comparative Study of Educational Qualifications and Occupational Destinations, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Thelen, K. (2004). How Institutions Evolve. The political economy of skills in Germany, Britain, the United States, and Japan, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Verdier, É. (2012). European Lifelong Learning Strategy and diversity of national devices: an interpretation in terms of public policy Regimes, Scuola Democratica, 1er trimestre 2012. Available online: http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/43/65/45/PDF/Potsdam-Verdier.pdf [Accessed May 07, 2015].

Walther, A. & Pohl, A. (2005). Thematic Study on Policy Measures concerning Disadvantaged Youth. Final Report for the European Commission. IRIS e.V., Tübingen. Available online: http://d-nb.info/1029653178/34 [Accessed May 07, 2015].

Walther, A. (2006). Regimes of youth transitions: Choice, flexibility and security in young people’s experiences across different European contexts. Young, Vol. 14, No. 2. Pp. 119-139.

(Marcelo Parreira do Amaral, Hans-Georg Kotthoff & Oscar Valiente)