Labour Market Policies and Other Determinants of Employment Flexibility

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of active and passive labour market policies (ALMP and PLMP) on employment flexibility, measured as the number of life-course job changes by people aged 50 and over. Another goal is to obtain conclusions about the impact of the Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) index, the collective bargaining coverage rate, household income, and the number of years of education received; but also to identify the most important psychological factors influencing employment flexibility. The analysis was carried out using models of the categorical dependent variable, especially the zero-inflated negative binomial model, based on the data from the SHARE database for the EU, Israel and Switzerland. The respective negative and positive impacts of ALMP and PLMP on employment flexibility shows the particular importance of ALMP in striving to improve the functioning of the labour market. The juxtaposition of conclusions related to psychological traits indicated that the enthusiasm for work is crucial in determining life-course employment flexibility. The link between the dependent variable and household income was negative, and the impact of the EPL index and the collective bargaining coverage rate was positive. On the other hand, the relationship between the number of years of education and professional mobility was divergent, indicating the dependence of employment flexibility on the professional specialisation of respondents.