To combat persistent unemployment and growing disparities, employment and training policies need re-organising to become more effective. Governments are endeavouring to achieve this by increasing the involvement of local and regional authorities, social partners, the private sector and the community in policy design and implementation.

Co-ordinating the efforts of these stakeholders, all involved at different levels, is a major challenge for governments. Local management of employment and training makes for more flexibility and hence better use of all available resources. This publication looks at the decentralisation of active labour market policies in OECD countries and shows how local employment management can lead to the implementation of more effective policies.