Enabling State and Unemployed Third-Country Nationals: In Local Government and Private Agencies Contracting for Counselling
Abstract
This paper examines the role of the Labour Office and private agencies in contracting for counselling to enable young third-country immigrant transition to work in Austria and Czechia. Existing research pointed enabling state contracting-out governance as a major trend in public service reform from public to private service delivery, assuming the private sector performs better than public institutions.
However, private entities may pursue self-interest, while authorities face information asymmetry to monitor agency's actions. Based on document analysis and an overview of scholarly texts, this paper concludes delegation of authority, monitoring, and inspection regulatory devices negotiates young third-country immigrants' transition to work.
However, Czechia contract arrangement is dissimilar to Austria with the focus on outcome/performance, whereas Austria prefers cost-reimbursement. The outcome pointed to performance contracting.
This is relevant because it reflects a mixed economy of welfare, but lack of public accountability may jeopardize minority groups' "aesthetic" inclusion, belongings, and participatory democracy.