Evaluating the Organisational Performance of Local Job Centers∗

In a quasi experimental setting the German federal government allowed part of the municipalities to design their own organisational structure for job centers that care for long-term unemployed. Using a unique panel data set on organi-zational characteristics of all job centers enables us to determine the impact of the intensity and quality of care with which long-term unemployed are looked after and the impact of different activating strategies on the matching probability of long-term unemployed. Combining all matching and layoff probabilities and taking the income effects of sanctions and workfare programmes into account enables us to compare the performance of job centers according to the concept of the income perspective of a long-term unemployed