Spatial Implications of Using Firm Level Quotas to Employ Low Productive Workers

Many Western countries struggle with the realisation of an inclusive labour market: a labour market in which everyone can participate and disabled or otherwise vulnerable, disadvantaged and low productive people can take part in the real labour market to the best of their abilities. Following countries like Germany and Austria, the latest Dutch policy proposal is to introduce mandatory quota for employers with more than 25 employees to create job openings for the disabled for 5 per cent of their workforce. A first calculation of possible job openings shows that from a national perspective a mandatory quota seems promising. However, due to differences in the regional economic structure the arrangement will not be sufficient to solve spatial inequalities in regional exclusion of disabled at the level of municipalities nor for larger regions at the NUTS 1 level like the North of the Netherlands. We conclude that more attention should be paid to the spatial variation in impact when the national government decides to decentralise the implementation of national policy measures to municipalities.