They entail wide-ranging coordination between different authorities, i.e., they are not the exclusive responsibility of labour ministries (ECLAC, 2005). Labour regulation policies, on the other hand, are those that act upon the relationship between workers and employers through provisions designed to secure rights: non-discrimination, minimum wages and social security, among others. Labour market policies, for their part, have the object of combating unemployment, mitigating its effects and supporting the population at risk of joblessness. These policies can be divided into passive ones designed to offset the loss of pay, such as subsidies, and active ones, which are meant to preserve existing jobs and support the creation of new ones, help the unemployed find work, facilitate the connection between labour supply and demand and improve the skills of the unemployed and those working in microenterprises and small businesses (Samaniego, 2002).