Thanks to the support of a lot of people I was able to spend three fabulous months in Europe this summer. Through my internships, leisure time and cultural activities I gained good insight into the work of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, Paris, France) and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB, Nuremberg, Germany). I became familiar with some of their datasets which are important for my work on training workers inside and outside the labor market: the organization of this training as well as the diffusion and the adoption of particular practices in different market economies.

At the Institute for Employment Research I learnt a great deal about current labor market policies, and in particular, those relating to the target group of needy, unemployed people in Germany as well as on program evaluations.

I also broadened my knowledge of the long-term unemployed who were especially affected by the so-called "Hartz-legislation". The reform is named after Peter Hartz, the chairman of the commission, who proposed measures to reform the German labor market. These measures law between 2003 and 2005. The reforms' effects on the long-term unemployed are currently being evaluated. Thanks to Prof. Joachim Wolff, head of the department responsible for this evaluation, I gained insight into the layout of the study, the difficulties involved in using the data, and the statistical methods used.

My stay at the OECD's sub-division, the Local Economic and Employment Development division (LEED) built on what I learnt in Nuremberg. One ongoing project in the LEED program deals with decentralized labor market policies. Since the German "Hartz-reforms" involved a major shift of responsibility and introduced flexibility, I was asked by Sylvain Giguere, Deputy Head of the Department, to analyze the German case for a comparative country study that the department is currently working on. By analyzing the institutional framework in Germany, especially the decision making competencies on the local level, the new management structures, and the data on the use of different active labor market programs, I could provide some more empirical evidence which is going to be used in the program's publication.

Even though I learnt a great deal and I worked hard during the summer I still found enough time to enjoy Paris with all its wonderful restaurants, museums, parks and the glittering Eiffel tower at night. I owe a lot to the people in Nuremberg and Paris that welcomed me so cordially and answered all my questions so patiently as well as the ILR International Program that made my stay in Europe financially possible.

- Lena Hipp