Dutch Labour Research Articles

Passend werk na werkloosheid of inactiviteit

The chance of getting a (matching) job after a period of non-employment The chance of getting a (matching) job after a period of non-employment In this article, we examine the relationship between the duration of non-employment spells and the probability of finding a job that matches the acquired educational level. We focus on persons who attained upper secondary vocational education and higher education. We use data from the Dutch Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the period 2003-2008. The probability of finding a job decreases with the duration of not working. For people with upper secondary and higher vocational education, the probability of finding a job that matches the acquired level of education also decreases with non-employment duration. For university graduates, we do not find a relationship between the duration of non-employment spells and the subsequent job level.

Measuring Labor Market Discrimination: An Overview of Methods and Their Characteristics

The labor market is a distribution mechanism that assigns individuals to differently rated positions. Labor market processes therefore lead to social inequality. The question of whether social descent, age, gender, ethnic origin, religion, or sexual orientation plays a role in these processes is thus as important as it is delicate. This article describes four main methods to empirically investigate discrimination. These methods are systematically compared on methodological and substantial criteria. Dutch labor market research on the effects of ethnic origin is used to clarify the methods. Particular attention is paid to access to jobs, whereas wage discrimination is briefly discussed. The general conclusion is that no one method is superior. For this reason, it is advisable to use triangulation, that is, a combination of methods to reveal discrimination.

Early Retirement Behaviour in the Netherlands: Evidence From a Policy Reform

In the early 1990s the Dutch labour unions and employer organisations agreed to transform the generous and actuarially unfair early retirement (ER) schemes into less generous and actuarially fair schemes that reward individuals for postponing retirement. The starting dates of these new ER programs varied by industry sector. In this study, we exploit this variation in starting dates to estimate the causal impact of the policy reform on early retirement behaviour. We use a large administrative dataset, the Dutch Income Panel 1989–2000, to estimate hazard rate models for the retirement age. We conclude that the policy reform has indeed induced workers to postpone retirement. Both the wealth effect (lower ER wealth) and the substitution effect (lower implicit taxes on retirement postponement) are significant, the latter being more substantial.

Informal Caregiving and Women's Work Choices: Lessons from the Netherlands

This paper focuses on the effects of Dutch long-term care and labour market policies on women's labour market participation and informal caregiving decisions. Labour market participation and informal caregiving are estimated jointly through a multivariate dynamic binary probit on European Community Household Panel data. Under Dutch policy, informal care decisions appear to be independent of household non-labour income and no significant impediment seems to hinder the contemporaneous practice of work activities and care. However, past informal care provision still slightly reduces the probability of currently working and vice versa, leaving room for policy improvements to enhance labour market participation.

Is Part-time Employment Here to Stay? Working Hours of Dutch Women over Successive Generations

The Netherlands combines a high female employment rate with a high part-time employment rate. This is likely to be the result of (societal) preferences as the removal of institutional barriers has not led to higher working hours. We investigate the development of working hours over successive generations of women using the Dutch Labour Force Survey 1992–2005. We find evidence of a strictly increasing propensity to work part-time and a decreasing propensity to work full-time for the generations born after the early 1950s. Our results are in line with results of studies on social norms and attitudes. It seems likely that without changes in (societal) preferences part-time employment is indeed here to stay.

Западноевропейская социал-демократия в начале XXI века

The article is devoted to the evolution of the West European social democracy in the late 20th and early 21st century. The author analyses the causes of the social democracy crisis in 1980-90s and considers its attempts to meet the challenges of globalization and the “new economy”. Modernization of the British Labour Party under Tony Blair's leadership and updating of the German Social Democratic Party initiated by Gerhard Schröder are thoroughly examined in the article. Political and ideological processes ongoing in such parties as the French Socialist Party, the Dutch Labour Party, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, the Austrian Social Democratic Party are also considered. The author comes to a conclusion that the radical shift towards social liberalism took place merely in the British Labour Party. Schröder’s attempt to modernize the German Social Democratic Party turned out to be unsuccessful, while other European social democratic parties did not regard Blair’s “Third Way” as a suitable model for them.

Beyond Flexibility and Security: A Composite Indicator of Flexicurity

‘Flexicurity’ might be defined as a mix of flexible contractual arrangements, income support measures, active labour market policies and lifelong learning. The successful shift in approach of the Danish and Dutch labour markets from passive to active labour market policies, and to flexicurity, has attracted considerable attention among academics and policy-makers. The objective of this Working Document is to contribute to the debate with the creation of a composite indicator to measure flexicurity, based on the definition provided in the European Commission’s Communication on Flexicurity (COM(2007)359). Our indicator confirms that preferences in the balance of flexibility and security are highly heterogeneous among countries; a finding that supports the ‘pathway’ approach as proposed by the European Commission. A second important conclusion is that the idea of flexibility being in favour of employers and security being in favour of employees needs to be overcome. Flexicurity is ‘both for both’, although it does not apply uniformly to all age groups but is two and three times greater for older and younger workers respectively.

25 jaar onderzoek naar arbeidsvraagstukken: ontwikkelingen, spanningsvelden en nieuwe uitdagingen

25 years of labour studies in the Netherlands: developments, tensions and new challenges 25 years of labour studies in the Netherlands: developments, tensions and new challenges By comparing developments in several disciplines a general picture of the state of the art of Dutch labour studies is presented. First, the specific contribution of each discipline (sociology of work, labour economics, work and organizational psychology and public administration) is described. Sociology studies the transformations on the labour market and within organizations and their unequal consequences for labour market success and quality of work of different groups of workers. Labour economics is characterized by the consequent application of the principle of utility maximization on a wide range of mainly labour market issues. Psychology highlights the 'inner world' of organizations in transition by studying stress and burnout, employability requirements, psychological contracts and so on. Public administration contributes to the study of labour policies by emphasizing the way implementation is being organized and studies management problems of public sector organizations. However, there is also a lot of overlap between these disciplines, which offer opportunities for multidisciplinary cooperation. Next, two sources of tensions are being discussed which characterize the field as a whole: the tension between a discipline-oriented and a more problem-oriented approach and the tension between theory and practice. It is concluded that both have increased during the last 25 years. Finally, a research agenda is presented, consisting of ten themes which have strategic value for the future of work, employment and industrial relations and ask for multidisciplinary cooperation.

25 jaar trends in TvA : auteurs, thema's en type onderzoek

TvA (the Dutch Journal of Labour Studies): trends in authors, themes and research approach over 25 years TvA (the Dutch Journal of Labour Studies): trends in authors, themes and research approach over 25 years This article presents the results of a content analysis of all volumes of TvA that have been published between 1985 and 2008. It attempts to uncover the trends in authors, themes and the research approach of 620 TvA papers and 908 TvA authors. The analysis is positioned against the background of a number of societal changes during the same period. It is concluded that the trends in TvA are sometimes related to macro trends in society and policy, but also emerge from the interests of the Dutch labour research community and the editorial board of TvA.

The effects of time-spatial flexibility and new working conditions on employees’ work–life balance: the Dutch case

Part-time work, flexible working hours, and home-based teleworking are HR instruments which are used to facilitate reconciliation of work and family life. It can be questioned, however, whether these arrangements really enhance work–life balance. This paper examines whether time-spatial flexibility reduces negative work–home interference, and if so, whether this also holds true for the category of ‘New Employees’ working under so-called ‘New Working Conditions’ which are characterised by professional job autonomy, team working by project, management by objectives, and strict deadlines. Employing survey data collected in 2003 among 807 Dutch employees, it is concluded that time-spatial flexibility does affect the work–life balance of workers positively, also under New Working Conditions. Generally, employees holding a smaller part-time job (12–24 contractual working hours per week) experienced a better work–life balance. In particular, female workers gained from more control over the temporal location of their work. Home-based teleworkers and employees holding larger part-time jobs (25–35 hours per week) did not experience a better work–life balance. In the concluding section, the results of the study are discussed in the context of contemporary Dutch labour market developments.

Women for women's sake: Assessing symbolic and substantive effects of descriptive representation in the Netherlands

When arguing in favour of the descriptive representation of women, advocates usually hypothesize that it has two positive effects. First, some argue that female voters are more likely to feel included in the political system once there are more women in parliament (symbolic effect). Second, it is often said that female MPs are in someway ‘better’ at representing women than men (substantive effect). This paper investigates whether there is evidence for these two effects in the case of the Netherlands from 1971 to 2006. The results suggest that the symbolic effect is strong for female voters of the Dutch Labour Party, but very weak or non-existent in case of the Christian Democrats and Liberals. In contrast, the substantive effect is only visible for the Christian Democrats and Liberals and absent for the Social Democrats.

Working Part-Time in the British, German and Dutch Labour Market: Scarring for the Wage Career?

The paper studies the long-term effect of part-time employment on the wage career using panel data for three countries. The main idea is to study the possible ‘scarring’ effects of part-time employment on future hourly wages up to ten years later in the career. Fixed effects panel wage regressions show the existence of a part-time wage penalty for females in all three countries and for males in the UK. Longer durations of part-time result in stronger negative wage effects. In the UK, a negative effect of past part-time employment is also found to persist even after a lasting transition to a fulltime job. The fact that the effect of part-time on wage is larger in the UK suggests that wage penalties, contrary to what could be expected, are smaller in regulated labour markets with a specific skills regime. <italic>JEL Classifications: J31, J62, J22, J24</italic>

Financiële prikkels en geprefereerde pensioenleeftijd

Financial incentives and preferred pension age Financial incentives and preferred pension age In view of the changing age composition of the Dutch labour force it is deemed essential that people continue to work till higher ages than they currently do. This may be achieved by changing the financial incentives in pension schemes. Two well-known mechanisms from economic theory apply. Firstly, lower pensions may, through an income effect, induce people to postpone retirement. Secondly, a substitution effect is at work if retiring at later ages is made financially more attractive relative to retiring at earlier ages. In this article we use a stated preference approach in order to study the effect of financial incentives on the retirement decision of workers. For that purpose we have asked participants of the CentERpanel at what age they would retire if they had to choose from a plausible range of retirement options. The choice options differ between respondents, reflecting different combinations of substitution and income effects. Regarding the decision to fully stop working at some age, workers appear to be responsive to both types of incentives, albeit more so to the substitution effect. If retirement is gradual, by a stepwise reduction of working hours, the difference between both types of incentives is small.

The Effects of Non-Employment in Early Work-Life on Subsequent Employment Chances of Individuals in The Netherlands

In this article, the effects of non-employment in early work-life on subsequent employment chances of individuals in the Netherlands are examined. A main concern is whether the experience of non-employment in the beginning of the career (permanently) damages a worker’s later employment opportunities (that is, the likelihood of exit out of and re-entry into employment). The empirical analysis is based on five retrospective life-history surveys collected in the Netherlands in the period 1992–2003, with full information on employment histories of individuals. The analytic sample consists of 7,761 respondents, who left education since the 1950s. The results of the empirical analysis first of all show that the duration of non-employment in the first 3 years after leaving education (and not the number of non-employment spells in that period) increases the likelihood of exiting employment in the subsequent time period (up until 15 years after leaving education). This finding holds for both men and women. Second, a negative duration effect of non-employment on the likelihood of re-entering employment after a job loss is found, but for men only. These results imply that non-employment in early work-life indeed has a scarring effect on subsequent employment chances of individuals in the Dutch labour market.

Effecten van tijd-ruimtelijke flexibiliteit op de balans tussen werk en privé

The Effects of Time-Spatial Flexibility and New Working Conditions on Employees' Work-Life Balance: The Dutch Case The Effects of Time-Spatial Flexibility and New Working Conditions on Employees' Work-Life Balance: The Dutch Case In Dutch organisations, part-time work, flexible working hours and telehomeworking are viewed as solutions to problems employees encounter when they harmonise work and family life. Critics fear, however, that for employees that work under New Working Conditions, characterized by professional job autonomy, team working by project, management by objectives and strict deadlines, time-spatial flexibility may in fact rather enlarge existing combination problems. This paper, therefore, questions whether time-spatial flexibility will lead to a better work-life balance, and if so, does that also hold true for the category of New Employees. Employing data collected in 2003 among 807 Dutch employees it is concluded that time-spatial flexibility indeed affects the work-life balance of workers positively, regardless of them working under New Working Conditions or not. Generally, employees having a smaller part-time job (12-24 contractual working hours per week) experienced a better work-life balance. Especially female workers gained from more control over the temporal location of their work. Telehomeworkers and employees having a larger part-time job (25-35 hours per week) did not experience a better work-life balance. In the concluding section, the results of the study are discussed in the context of contemporary Dutch labour market developments.

On the Road to Flexicurity: Dutch Proposals for a Pathway towards Better Transition Security and Higher Labour Market Mobility

As regards labour-market reform and employment policies, the European Union currently touts the concept of ‘flexicurity’, aiming at simultaneously enhancing both flexibility and security in the labour market in response to the globalisation of the economy and far-reaching demographic developments such as the ageing of the population. Each Member State is expected to map out its own distinct pathway towards more flexicurity and the European Commission has, for its part, suggested a set of four general pathways. Therefore a need exists for ideas and examples on how to elaborate a flexicurity pathway, looking for inspiration rather than imitation. In the Netherlands, a government-appointed Committee on Labour Market Participation (the so-called Bakker Committee) has recently published proposals and recommendations for further reform of the Dutch labour market. This paper discusses that part of these proposals involving a particular flexicurity pathway towards better transition security and higher labour-market mobility. This possible pathway, now being debated in the Netherlands, may also be of interest to other Member States.

Impact of Prepaid Incentives in Face-to-Face Surveys: A Large-Scale Experiment with Postage Stamps

Nonresponse is a general problem in survey research. Although response rates and the nonresponse trends differ between countries, the general trend is that response rates have been declining over the years (De Leeuw & De Heer, 2002). A high nonresponse rate is a problem as it reduces the number of respondents and consequently the precision of estimates. In addition, nonresponse can be selective. This occurs when nonrespondents differ systematically from respondents as to the survey objectives. As a result, the survey estimates of the key indicators may be biased. Nonresponse is not only a statistical problem, but it is also a financial problem as declining response rates cause increasing survey costs. In the nineties, a response rate of 55 percent in face-to-face surveys conducted by Statistics Netherlands was not unusual (De Heer, 1999). Due to a substantial reorganization of the fieldwork department and the raise of the minimum number of contact efforts from three to six, the response in Statistics Netherlands’ face-to-face surveys gradually increased to 65 percent in 2005 (De Bie & Luiten, 2005). In order to realize a further increase in the response rate, we decided to focus on the refusals. As Statistics Netherlands does not use a refusal conversion policy—which is a common practice in many other fieldwork organizations, including National Statistical Institutes—we had to consider other measures. One option was the use of incentives. Prepaid cash incentives are known to be most effective, but sending cash by mail is not allowed in the Netherlands. Therefore, postage stamps are chosen as a prepaid incentive, which are expected to be an opportunity to bridge the gap between cash and material incentives. In this article, the effect of stamps as a prepaid incentive in face-to-face surveys on response is tested in a large-scale field experiment embedded in the Dutch Labor Force Survey.

On the Road to Flexicurity: Dutch Proposals for a Pathway Towards Better Transition Security and Higher Labour Market Mobility

As regards labour-market reform and employment policies, the European Union currently touts the concept of 'flexicurity', aiming at simultaneously enhancing both flexibility and security in the labour market in view of the globalization of the economy and far-reaching demographic developments such as the ageing of the population. Each Member State is expected to map out its own distinct pathway towards more flexicurity and the European Commission has, for that matter, suggested a set of four idealtypical pathways. Therefore a need exists for ideas and examples on how to elaborate a flexicurity pathway, looking for inspiration rather than imitation. In the Netherlands, a government-appointed Committee on Labour Market Participation (the so-called Bakker Committee) has recently published proposals and recommendations for further reform of the Dutch labour market. This paper discusses the part of these proposals that involves a particular flexicurity pathway towards better transition security and higher labour-market mobility. This possible pathway, now being debated in the Netherlands, may also be of interest to other Member States.

How does a coordinated market economy evolve? Effects of policy learning in the Netherlands in the 1980s

This article studies the changes in economic policy in the Netherlands and their effects on the coordinated market economy (CME). In order to gain insight into the development of the CME, the neo-corporatist literature and the concept of ‘policy learning’ are called upon. The article takes the analysis of Visser and Hemerijck on the changes in the Dutch labor market in the 1980s and 1990s as a starting point for the analysis of the development of the Dutch CME. The analysis includes a systematic review of macroeconomic developments. The frequent introduction of market-oriented solutions is related to a paradigm change in macroeconomic policy. ‘Policy learning’ explains the transition in priorities of economic policy in the Dutch corporatist economy. After a decade of increasing polarization in the 1970s, economic urgency increased and stimulated a regime change towards more market-oriented policy, creating a more liberal CME. In any CME, either new forms of coordination will develop, or market-based solutions will be sought. In the Netherlands, in various policy fields coordination was transferred to the market. Labor market reform was accompanied by supply-side reform and deregulation. The tension between global trends in economic ideas and their application in a CME was resolved by policy concertation (as institutionalized regular consultation between parties is often called) and learning, creating a more liberal business environment within the CME.

Perceived need for mental health care among non-western labour migrants

There is a supposed higher prevalence of common mental disorders among many migrant groups. At the same time, problems are reported regarding underutilisation of mental health services by migrants. Since perceived need for care is a powerful predictor of actual care utilisation, we aimed to study the hypothesis that, given the same level of mental morbidity, non-Western migrants would perceive less need for mental health care than ethnic Dutch residents. Additionally, we studied the extent to which needs are met in both groups, as well as several possible barriers to care. A cross-sectional study with data from the 2004/2005 Amsterdam Health Monitor. Data were complete from 626 ethnic Dutch and non-Western (Turkish and Moroccan) labour migrants. Respondents participated in a structured interview in their own language, which included the perceived need for care questionnaire (PNCQ) and the composite international diagnostic interview (CIDI) version 2.1 for anxiety and depressive disorders. Perceived need was much higher among Turkish migrants. Among Moroccans the perceived need was comparable to ethnic Dutch. Turkish migrants also reported that needs were met less often than ethnic Dutch. Differences were explained by a higher prevalence of common mental disorders and higher symptom levels among Turkish. When differences in mental morbidity were taken into account, Moroccans perceived less need for information, drugs, referral to specialised mental health care, or for counselling. The most important barrier to care in all ethnic groups was the preference to solve the problem on one's own. In case of similar mental morbidity, perceived need for care was lower than among ethnic Dutch. The results did not support the hypothesis that in case of similar mental distress, needs of migrants were less often met than needs of ethnic Dutch.