Effective local governance assisting vulnerable groups: The case of youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) in Sweden

Abstract

Youth not in employment, education or training (NEETs) have been analyzed from either individual or macro-structural perspectives, while policy discussions have emphasized national policy. This disregards (i) the substantial variation in NEET rates within countries, and (ii) the importance of local governance for this variation. We examine these issues in Sweden through the lens of interactive governance. Theoretically, four aspects of collective action are highlighted: identification of local NEET subgroups, perceptions of problems and of solutions, and stakeholder relationships. Empirically, an initial multi-level regression analysis of all 290 Swedish municipalities provided the basis for semi-structured interviews regarding local work with NEETs in 20 strategically selected municipalities. The qualitative data are here analyzed using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. The results suggest that municipalities where local governance combines three of the four aspects, namely identifying NEET subgroups and sharing perceptions of problems and of solutions, have lower NEET shares than predicted.