Active Labour Market Policy and Election Dates

Many studies have shown that the decision by voters to give or withdraw their support of a government in power depends on their assessment of its performance in relation to the labour market situation. For this reason governments have an incentive to reduce unemployment, in order to win popularity and increase their chances of re-election, especially in the run-up to elections. According to a current study based on data for Western German states from 1985 to 2004, a possible way for governments to achieve this goal is by introducing active labour market policy measures to reduce official unemployment figures before voters go to the polls.