ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of recent trends in labour market governance, and introduces the conceptual framework used for analysis. It considers the questionnaires conducted among PES organisations as well as Pacts and LEIs in 40 cities to describe how these organisations evolved over the period 2008 to 2013 in terms of autonomy, partnership, objectives, and target groups. The chapter provides descriptive evidence on whether a PES or Pact/LEI organisation's capability to attract local stakeholders depends on its autonomy and whether its stakeholder structure and its autonomy have a discernible impact on the policies it follows. The most outstanding feature with respect to all indicators analysed in the chapter is the vast heterogeneity in the governance of regional labour market policies in Europe. The chapter explores the sources for vast heterogeneity by considering the interaction of different aspects of the organisation and objective structure of PES and Pact/LEI organisations within a region.
