Public service employment is a cost-effective fiscal remedy in terms of jobs created within the first 12 months. Its effectiveness is enhanced if participants come from welfare or unemployment compensation programs. Other positive attributes are low inflationary impact and ability to be targeted to areas or groups. (SK)

The National Commission for Manpower Policy assesses the effectiveness of public service employment (PSE) programs. Reports on numbers of jobs created, types of PSE workers, and the amount and effects of job displacement caused by the policy of "fiscal substitution" in local jurisdictions. Recommendations include strengthening PSE…

This report synthesizes the findings from several areas of work undertaken to assess what impact public sector employment has had on both the level and structure of employment. It also examines the impact of the public sector as employer on the labor market from two viewpoints: the level and share of public sector employment and the structure of…

A field study examined the Public Service Employment (PSE) Program's intergovernmental effects. Addressed during the study were such questions as whether the program creates jobs in local government, whether local governments give preference to disadvantaged persons, and what kinds of services are provided. To collect these data, a network of…

This study analyzes the extent to which targeting objectives of the Emergency Jobs Programs Extension Act (EJPEA) of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs have been achieved by federal and local officials and the effectiveness of limited-duration projects in providing useful public services. The study deals with the…

Compares federal job creation efforts of the 1970s to the Work Project Administration (WPA) program in the 1930s. Traces the development of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) and stresses the need to unite public and private resources to achieve both balanced economic growth and full employment. (SK)

Authors assert that public service employment (PSE) is one form of macroeconomic policy and compare PSE to tax reduction, federal subsidies, and other forms. They propose a design for an ongoing federal employment program and conclude that a PSE program aimed at the structurally unemployed creates more jobs per GNP dollar than other policies. (SK)

This paper examines various aspects of public employment programs designed to reduce unemployment in Western industrialized countries. The historical context in which these programs emerged and the forms such programs might take are discussed. Public employment is considered in terms of special public service jobs, public works, and training and…

This report presents a plan indicating how State and local governments might hire the unemployed and the underemployed for government jobs under the provisions of laws such as the Emergency Employment Act. Two major jurisdictions were selected for the field study, the city of Chicago and the State of Connecticut, to represent a broad spectrum of…

This study demonstrates that the Public Service Employment (PSE) program had a significant net job-creation impact in 1978 and 1979. The difference in the estimates for these two years and fiscal 1977 indicate a substantial effect from the changes in the program's design, including tighter eligibility criteria and requirement of a project approach…

The feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job-creation was assessed. Focus was on how many job-creating activities could be undertaken as well as the job-creation potential and costs of these activities. Data was collected through field visits made to Washington-based federal government and national organizations and to twenty-four…

The report consists of three parts: "The Design of a Federal Employment Program to Counter Recession"; "The Design of a Federal Employment Program in a Strategy to Raise Low Earnings"; and "The Design of a Guaranteed Job Opportunity as a Part of Welfare Reform". In Part 1, an Anti-Recession Program (ARP) is proposed. ARP is an automatically…

This monograph on Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program models for practitioners who are implementing or redesigning public service employment programs explores three major approaches to public service employment: countercyclical, employability development, and structural targeting. The content is presented in six sections. The…

This second of a three-volume report of a study done to assess the feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job creation contains chapter 2 of the report on the methods and findings with respect to job-creating activities, their job-creation potential, and related characteristics. (Volume 1, comprised of the report's first chapter,…

This last of a three-volume report of a study done to assess the feasibility of large-scale, countercyclical public job creation covers the findings regarding the priorities among projects, indirect employment effects, skill imbalances, and administrative issues; and summarizes the overall findings, conclusions, and recommendations. (Volume 1,…