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This volume presents the proceedings from an international conference on labour markets which was organised by the Ministries of Labour and Finance in Finland with the support of the OECD and the European Commission. It puts forward thinking on new policy measures focusing on the specific experiences of the United States, Japan, Finland and Denmark. The volume includes highlights from the conference and most of the interventions. The papers, presented by politicians, high level officials from the European Commission and the OECD Secretariat, social partners and academics, are divided into six parts. Part one, 'Opening session' contains: A comprehensive strategy works: Finland's experience in the 1990s / Paavo Lipponen; Europe's employment and social challenge: competitiveness and cohesion / Anna Diamantopoulou. Part two, 'Assessing international strategies' contains: Putting Europe to work / Allan Larsson; Implementing the OECD jobs strategy: assessing performance and policy / Jorgen Elmeskov; A comment / Edmond Malinvaud. Part three, 'Experiences in selected countries' contains: Neither too hot nor too cold: the U.S. economy in the 1990s / Robert J. Gordon; The Japanese employment system in the 1990s / Tsutomu Tanaka; The Finnish experiences in the 1990s / Oertti Sorsa. Part four, 'Making work pay' contains: Tax policy, unemployment benefits and structural unemployment / Martii Hetemaki; A comment / Jan Horst Schmidt; Employment promotion and transfer payments / Georg Fischer and Manuel Sanchis i Marco; What do we know about policies to make work pay? An overview / Mark Pearson and Stefano Scarpetta; A comment / Tor Eriksson. Part five, 'Preventive approaches against labour market exclusion' contains: Removing barriers to employment for groups at the margin of the labour market / Markku Lehto; Active and preventive approaches: a note based on the recent Danish experience / Per Callesen; A comment / David Stanton. Part six, 'Active labour market policies' contains: Active labour market policies: continuity and change / Juhani Lonnroth; What works among active labour market policies: evidence from OECD countries' experiences / John Martin.