2012
ReflecTions
2013
ReflecTions
ReflecTions 2012
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Preface
In 2012, Europe experienced a further aggravation of the crisis, resulting in a sharp rise of unemployment,
especially among young people. The current crisis is also challenging scholars, not in the least labour market
researchers. Fundamental and scientifically excellent research will remain the core basis of universities, together
with (research-driven) education of students. However, society is increasingly asking researchers for answers.
They are called upon to provide and help use their knowledge and insights to tackle the grand challenges society
is facing. In the words of the EU’s new Horizon 2020 programme: how to warrant inclusive en secure societies,
how to promote active and healthy ageing of European citizens, how to build a sustainable economy and attain
and maintain industrial leadership of European companies.
Colophon
Managing director
Ton Wilthagen
Staff
Ron van Baden
Eleni Balamoti
Sonja Bekker
Wouter van Benthem
Irmgard Borghouts – van de Pas
Frank Cörvers
Ronald Dekker
Ioana van Deurzen
Mark Diebels
Chantal Dohmen
Joey van den Eijnden
Charissa Freese
Ingeborg van der Heide
Frank Hendrickx
Annet van Huijkelom – Frankena
Pascal Kamphuis
Jenny Krebbers
Ronald Lievens
Christos Louvaris Fasois
Sylvie de Louw
Ruud Luijkx
Marc van der Meer
Ruud Muffels
Wim van Oorschot
Jan van Ours
Jaap Paauwe
Ivana Palinkas
Matteo Picchio
René Schalk
Linda Senden
Daniela Skugor
Martijn van Velzen
Nuna Zekic
Postal address:
ReflecT S424
PO Box 90153
5000 LE Tilburg
The Netherlands
Visiting address:
Simon Building 4th Floor
Room S424
(entrance at Prof. Verbernelaan)
T: (+31)(0)13 466 21 81
E: reflect@uvt.nl
W: www.uvt.nl/reflect
(EN)@ReflecTTilburgU
(NL)@ReflecTUvT
Knowledge valorisation and social innovation are already key terms in the vocabulary and daily practices of
ReflecT. We see it as a privilege to work with a variety of actors in society, adding value by helping to develop
new solutions in the labour market. Especially
the collaboration with innovation and labour
market regions, among which Midpoint,
Brainport, West-Brabant, Gelderland and the
Groningen region, provides new opportunities
for establishing “labour market lab’s” that offer
fruitful grounds for experimenting with new
labour market concepts and collecting rich data.
This annual report ReflecTions 2012 gives a
short tour de horizon of what has been done
and achieved in the past year. And there’s
much more work to do.
Ton Wilthagen
Scientific Director of ReflecT
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Mission Statement
Research Themes
The mission of ReflecT is to perform high-quality multidisciplinary labour market and employment research,
aiming at a leading academic position at the European level and contributing to innovation and knowledge
valorisation.
The four key topics within ReflecT’s Research Programme are:
The research area of the institute can be defined as: on the one hand the challenges and issues that arise from
the tendencies towards and pleas for increased flexibility, dynamism and efficiency of labour markets, employment relations and the work organisation and on the other hand the need for preserving or developing social
cohesion, participation and commitment in our societies, by means of social protection, security and a solidaristic social organisation.
Currently the debate on reconciling the economic and social dimension of society or, more specifically, labour
market flexibility and security and cohesion is explicitly being framed in terms of ‘flexicurity’ approaches and
policies. At the more micro level of the individual organisation and the employment relationship, we encounter
the parallel tension between on the one hand added value, performance, productivity and on the other hand the
need for legitimacy and fairness.
The institute combines, in a productive and creative manner, legal, economic, sociological, and psychological
approaches, and, moreover, adopts a multi-level perspective, studying the interplay between various regulatory
and institutional levels in society: the European, international, national, sectoral, company, and individual level.
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1. Labour market dynamics: preconditions, effects, and monitoring
These topics are researched at the various levels of European societies (including ‘old’ and ‘new’ member
states) and non-European societies (comparative perspective).
2. The impact of European integration on labour market dynamism and social cohesion
This part focuses on the need for ‘hard law’ versus ‘soft law’ measures, an optimal interplay between national
and European law, and specific mechanisms in establishing a balance between labour market flexibility and
security.
3. Optimal design of labour market and social security institutions
Subject of research is: employment protection legislation, unemployment insurance, collective bargaining,
employment or transition security (facilitating non-work-to-job transitions as well as job-to-job transitions), and
training systems.
4. Changes in the employment relationship and its design
This includes the notions of psychological contracts, human resource strategies and mutual risk management;
changing values and beliefs, solidarity, social contracts and social policies within more dynamic, flexible, and
secure labour markets and economies.
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Some Key Research Findings
Securing job-to-job transitions in the labour market: a comparative study of employment security
systems in European Countries
Parents Transmit Happiness along with associated values and behaviors to their children –
A lifelong happiness dividend
Currently, Europe is on the eve of another recession, which might even be worse than the 2008 crisis. It is
apparent that the functioning of the labour market is not perfect and European countries should realise that
there is an urgent need to reflect on employment security systems in order to prevent long-term unemployment.
By looking at experiences in other countries lessons can be learned, but it is not possible to take what may be
successful in one country and simply transplant it into another. The often long-standing interlinkage between
the different forms of coordination and regulation in any given country cannot easily be undone. There is not a
‘one size fits all’ employment security system. Path dependence explains the restrictions and limitations in
learning and transferring elements from foreign countries, but what remains is the necessity for European
countries to develop an employment security system which is tailored to the national context.
Our central finding is that parents transmit life satisfaction or dissatisfaction to their children. This transmission
happens partly due to transmission of values (high priority for pro-social and family values, lower priority for
material values) and behavioral choices (work-life balance, social participation and regular exercise) associated
with life satisfaction. However, these particular values and choices do not by any means account for all the
covariance between parent and ‘child’ life satisfaction. It is likely (certain?) that other values and behavioral
choices, which we have not identified, also play a part. Various beliefs, skills and capabilities (for example,
religious beliefs, ‘emotional intelligence’ and a capacity for intimate attachment) are likely to be involved.
Clearly, also, the evidence in this paper indicates that parents and their adult children can continue to affect
each other’s happiness long after children have left the parental home. Favorable and adverse life events, and
changes in family dynamics occur, which may affect relationships between the generations.
Source: Borghouts – van de Pas, I.W.C.M. (2012). Securing job-to-job transitions in the labour market: a comparative study of
employment security systems in European countries. Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers.
Labour law, social norms and the early retirement decision: An empirical study
Source: Headey, B., Muffels, R.J.A. & Wagner, G. (2012). Parents Transmit Happiness along with associated values and behaviors
to their children – A lifelong happiness dividend. IZA Discussion Papers: 6944.
Retaining through training even for older workers
This paper studies the relationship between on-the-job training and employability in the Netherlands. In our
analysis we disentangle the true effect of training from the spurious effect that might be induced by selfselection of non-random individuals into training participation. We find that firm-provided training significantly
improves employment prospects. For prime age workers who generally have a strong labour market position,
in the sense that after job loss they find a new job quite easily, this relationship may be of limited interest.
However, we also investigate whether for older workers training leads to higher employability. We find that older
workers who receive on-the-job training are more likely to keep employment.
Source: Picchio, M. & Van Ours, J. C. (2012). Retaining through training even for older workers. Economics of education review,
32, 29-48.
The results provide insight into the retirement decision by examining the effects of micro- and macrolevel
determinants on transitions out of the labour market. Using SILC panel data combined with country-aggregated
EVS data on values, we estimated multinomial logistic regression models combining economic and social
determinants such as benefit replacement rates on the one hand and social norms with respect to work and
leisure on the other. The models indicated that both the institutional factors and the social norms have
statistically significant effects on exiting the labour market through early retirement even though the effects of
the economic determinants seem more important.
Source: Skugor, D., Muffels, R.J.A. & Wilthagen, A.C.J.M. (2012). Labour law, social norms and the early retirement decision:
An empirical study. In: Hendrickx, F.H.R. (Ed.) Active ageing and labour law: Contribution in honour of professor Roger Blanpain.
(297-318). Belgium: Intersentia.
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International Visits
Nuna Zekic, one of ReflecT’s PhD researchers, spent a month as a visiting researcher at the UCLA School of
Law, where she continued her PhD research on employment security under the supervision of prof. Katherine
Stone. Prof. Stone is a leading expert in labour and employment law in the United States.
PhD researcher Ronald Lievens attended the ePortfolio & Identity Conference which was held in London from
July 9 until July 11, 2012. He presented his research on ePortfolio systems in the workplace in the Brainport
region. He also was a presenter at the ‘Conference on Recognizing Learning, Skills and Competencies’,
organised by the Canadian Association for Prior Learning Assessment and held in Halifax from October 21 until
October 23, 2012.
Sonja Bekker was a visiting scholar of WZB Social Science Institute in Berlin from September to November
2012. She has presented her work on the labour market position on youth and on the impact of European
economic governance on employment. Moreover, she did a project on long-term unemployment for the Konrad
Adenauer Stiftung. The research output was among others a WZB discussion paper “The EU’s stricter economic
governance: a step towards more binding coordination of social policies?”
On June 28 and 29, 2012, Ivana Palinkas attended the 3rd Conference on European Law & Policy in Context in
the UK. The title of the Conference, which took place at the Institute of European Law at the University of
Birmingham, was “Integration or Disintegration?” Her presentation was about social partners in Europe after
the Treaty of Lisbon.
Charissa Freese, Senior Researcher at ReflecT, attended, as a Discussant, the Symposium ‘What’s the deal with
Employability? The Relationship between I-deals and Employability’, at the Academy of Management in Boston
on August 6, 2012. As a discussant, she also attended the symposium ‘Managing Job Crafters and Idiosyncratic
Work Arrangements: A blessing or a Nightmare for HRM?’ This symposium also took place on August 7, 2012,
at the Academy of Management in Boston. The symposium was organised by Brigitte Kroon (Chair), Charissa
Freese and Luc Dorenbosch (presenter).
ReflecTions 2012
Special Events
PhD Defence Irmgard Borghouts - van de Pas
On April 20, 2012, Irmgard Borghouts - van de Pas successfully
obtained her PhD-degree at Tilburg University. Title of her
dissertation: ‘Securing job-to-job transitions in the labour
market. A comparative study of employment security systems
in European countries’. Her supervisor was prof. dr. A.C.J.M.
Wilthagen. Members of the dissertation committee were prof.
dr. B. Gazier, prof. dr. R. Muffels, prof.dr. A Nauta, prof. mr. E.
Verhulp, prof. dr. J. Visser and dr. D. Storrie. For this study she
interviewed several stakeholders who are involved in job-tojob support for redundant employees in Sweden, the United
Kingdom, Austria, Spain and the Netherlands. In each country
she conducted interviews with representatives of trade unions,
employers’ associations, ministries, public employment
services, private (reintegration/outplacement) companies, and other relevant (academic) experts.
Master Thesis Award
René Schalk was the supervisor of Marijn van IJsel Smits when the master thesis award was granted to
her on May 8, 2012, for her master thesis: ‘Coping with the challenge of an ageing workforce’.
Ruud Luijkx; Research Fellow at the Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerce Sociale of Trento
University
Ruud Luijkx got appointed Research Fellow at the Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale of
Trento University. He continued to contribute to the PhD-programme in Trento and under his
supervision, Rafaelle Guetto attained his PhD-degree with his dissertation: Structural and Cultural
Determinants of Fertility and Female Labour Market Participation in Italy and Europe. He published
„Bildungsdisparitäten nach sozialer Herkunft und Geschlecht im Wandel—Deutschland im
internationalen Vergleich“ in Kölner Zeitschrift für Soziologie und Sozialpsychologie with Richard
Breen, Walter Müller and Reinhard Pollak.
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Summer School
The first ESPAnet-ReflecT-EDAC Summer School took place at Tilburg University. It started on July 1, 2012. This
one-week Summer School was about Flexibility and Security: Challenges to Modern Labour Markets and Social
Protection in Europe.
The future of European societies will strongly depend on the realisation of dynamic and inclusive labour
markets, with access of all to decent and productive jobs, avoiding segmentation and dualisation. At the
same time, collective arrangements for social security, pensions, and welfare are necessary vehicles for social
participation and cohesion. At all levels; societal, labour market, work organisations and individual workers
and their families, the balance between flexibility and security, between modern labour markets and welfare
arrangements, are among the most pressing challenges for the EU and its member states. The Summer School offered lectures with
discussions, assignments and workshops,
all presented and supervised by renowned
scholars from various disciplines such
as sociology, social policy, economics,
organisation studies, HRM and labour law.
These lecturers are Ton Wilthagen, Ruud
Muffels, Jan van Ours, Wim van Oorschot,
René Schalk, Heejung Chung, Janine
Leschke, Charissa Freese, Sonja Bekker and others. In addition, participating students had the opportunity to
present their PhD-projects and to discuss them in small groups with other participants and scholars.
PhD students thus got individual feedback on their projects.
It was the first Summer School ReflecT organised and it was a fantastic one.
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Lunch Seminars and Conferences
The lunch seminars are meant as an informal way to exchange ideas and thoughts both with members of the
ReflecT-group as well as with others. Topics vary over the broad range associated with the institute’s research.
In 2012 we started with the seminar “Securing Job-to-Job Transitions in the Labour Market: A comparative study
of security systems in European countries” by Irmgard Borghouts - van de Pas (Tilburg University).
The seminar “Working According to Ability: Real Perspective or Recipe for Disaster”, by Ronald Dekker (Tilburg
University), consisted of the discussion of two questions. The first question was: What are the available policy
tools for integrating a substantial number of (former) benefit recipients and sheltered employees into the
regular labour market? The second was: What are the likely effects of the new act on labour market outcomes for
the clients involved?
In their seminar, Arie Gelderblom (Researcher at SEOR, Rotterdam), Loek Nieuwenhuis and Patricia Gielen
(both researchers at IVA, Tilburg) discussed the growth in life-long learning participation.
The erosion of a number of national systems of employment relations, and the evidence from large scale
workplace surveys has brought attention to the considerable diversity of employment systems within major
economies. David Marsden (London School of Economics) discussed this theme in the seminar “The End of
National Models in Employment Relations.”
Ivana Sidova, a PhD-student at Matej Bel University of Slovakia, discussed the flexicurity policies in Slovakia in
the seminar “Company Level Flexicurity in Slovakia”.
One of the most well-attended lunch seminars was “Flexicurity All’Italiana by prof. Antoine Jacobs (Tilburg
University) and prof. Maria Teresa Carinci (State University of Mailand). Prof. Antoine Jacobs has written a paper
about the new Italian legislation on the labour market, for example the law on dismissals and the new Italian law
on unemployment insurance. This paper served as a starting point for the seminar.
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The last seminar of 2012, by Stefano Sacchi (University of Milan and Collegio Carlo Alberto), was about the
Political Economy of Work Security and Flexibility. This seminar aimed to cast light on the empirical relationship
between labour market deregulation through non-standard contracts and three dimensions of worker security:
employment, income and social security.
By covering this broad range of topics from different academic and policy perspectives, we have again
succeeded in addressing many questions concerning ‘flexicurity, labour market dynamics and social cohesion’,
the central research area of ReflecT.
SZW Conference 2012
Both Irmgard Borghouts-van de Pas and Ton Wilthagen
were present at the annual conference of the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Employment (SZW). This conference is a
unique platform for almost 700 people who are part of or
interested in public administration, social security,
civil-society organisations, education and research. The
SZW Conference 2012 combined visions and ideas with
state-of-the-art knowledge about labour, social security,
good practices and special initiatives. Irmgard Borghoutsvan de Pas gave a short reflection on how collaboration
between sectors and branches in the area of schooling
and mobility can be stimulated and Ton Wilthagen
gave comments on the presentations about insight in
two European approaches of stimulating sustainable
employability.
Charissa Freese was a discussant at the symposium ‘Managing Job Crafters and Idiosyncratic Work Arrangements: A blessing or a Nightmare for HRM?’ This symposium took place at the Academy of Management in
Boston on August 7, 2012. It was organised by Brigitte Kroon (Chair), Charissa Freese (Discussant) and Luc
Dorenbosch (Presenter). Charissa Freese was also a Discussant at the symposium: ‘What’s the Deal with
Employability? The Relationship between I-deals and Employability’ at the Academy of Management in Boston
on August 6, 2012.
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ReflecT in the Media
ReflecT’s researchers and professors are frequently asked for their opinion regarding current affairs and
developments that relate to labour market topics. Moreover, current and published research, as well as projects
carried out by researchers of ReflecT, regularly draw the attention of the media.
This was also the case in 2012. This past year is characterised by economic set-backs and decreasing demand
for labour. Due to these developments, topics as the increasing unemployment, flexibilisation of legislation
concerning discharge, and work-promoting projects were a constant factor in the media.
That meant that the professors and researchers of ReflecT were often cited and interviewed by newspapers,
professional magazines and newscasts as well as regularly invited to talkshows to give their opinion on current
developments.
Media Top 2012
With close to 5000 ‘hits’ in the media (newspaper, radio, television, etc.) Tilburg University had 14 hits a day
in the news in 2012. But which professor or researcher had the most media attention? Well, according to the
Mediatop 2012, Ton Wilthagen is in third position university-wide and Ronald Dekker in ninth position, having
climbed a dashing 16 positions.
If we look at the women’s Top 10, Sonja Bekker has a fantastic seventh place. In the Top 20 for the Tilburg
School of Social and Behavioral Sciences we see Ruud Muffels (eighth position) and Jaap Paauwe (fourth
position). Finally in the Tilburg Law School Top 20 we have Ton Wilthagen (first position), Ronald Dekker
(second position), Sonja Bekker (13th position) and Irmgard Borghouts-van de Pas (19th position).
Media Appearances
Examples are Ton Wilthagen’s and Ronald Dekker’s appearances in RTL Z, a Dutch television programme on
economic and financial topics. Amongst other subjects, they respectively discussed the shortage of technical
personnel and unemployment among people aged older than 50 years.
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In ‘Global Lessons: Putting America to Work’, a CNN-broadcasted programme hosted by Fareed Zakaria, Ton
Wilthagen discussed the Dutch policy of ‘flexicurity’.
In the Sunday Times, an article was published titled: “Don’t argue, pick a benefit to give up”. In relation to the
British discussion on reforming the welfare state, the article referred to Ton Wilthagen and his flexicurity policy.
On October 31, 2012, Tilburg University hosted, for the first time, a TEDx event. A day organised by the
Academic Forum and Asset SBIT which was filled with inspiring TED talks on the Theme ‘Refreshing our
Information Society’. TED is a non-profit organisation that initially aimed at bringing people together from the
worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design to share ideas. During the years, its scope has broadened,
including many more fields and subjects. The x implies that this event was independently organised. Professor
Wilthagen was a speaker at TEDx TilburgUniversity. He talked about the way we can guarantee “work for all” by
means of a common language of competences and modern information technology in matching labour supply
and demand: I(L)EARN.
ReflecT’s researchers and professors are active on social media as
well, regularly posting statements and results of research on Twitter.
Moreover, during the severe snowfall in December, Ton Wilthagen
even conducted a natural experiment, by asking people to post their
experiences with snow white working (‘het witte werken’: working at
home instead of at the office due to the weather circumstances).
In short, the researchers and professors working at ReflecT were
responsible for a great many contributions to various media in
2012 and strive to do the same in 2013.
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Various Activities
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Work Experience Places
Brainport – Let’s Connect
In the Let’s Connect project, several firms, knowledge- and educational
institutes from the province of Limburg and the Brainport-region cooperate
to stimulate the implementation of ePortfolios by businesses. The project
is supported by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and
Innovation. The goal of Let’s Connect is to stimulate and facilitate the use of ePortfolios
within regional labour markets, to increase transparency and to retain
talented workers. Partners in the project participate in a number of pilots,
where they utilise ePortfolio systems for various HR-related purposes.
Examples of such purposes include: utilising competency tests in an
ePortfolio to gain insight in the specific and transferable skills of an organisation’s workforce and to enhance
the composition of teams. When shared on a regional level, such information can facilitate the exchange of
personnel in the region. This is vital in a project-based economy with fluctuating demands for labour.
ReflecT contributes to this project by
monitoring the ePortfolio implementations,
and by identifying and researching the
conditions under which the ePortfolio can
achieve the above-mentioned goal. Important
themes include the alignment of educational
ePortfolio practices with the requirements of
the workplace, and the challenge of bridging
highly contextual competencies between
organisations and sectors.
ReflecT is situated in the Simon Building on the Tilburg University Campus. As of the beginning of January 2010,
together with the Matchingsunit Tilburg, ReflecT started a work experience location at the reception area. The
aim of this job is to facilitate people in search of a new job from a situation of being unemployed. Looking for a
job from a temporary working situation helps people to speed up their search for a new job opportunity. Starting
from May 2011 the use of work experience places was extended to the Academia building. LLM Research Master in Law
The LLM Research Master in Law is a two-year masters program designed for talented bachelor students with
strong analytical skills and an interest in academic research. Students who already have a master’s degree can
apply for the abridged one-year program.
Offered in cooperation with Leuven University (Belgium), students from all over the world gain access to the
best professors in the field at two world-class universities, participating in courses at both Tilburg and Leuven.
The Research Master in Law ranks # 1 in The Netherlands according to the Keuzegids Hoger Onderwijs (Dutch
Guide to Higher Education), 2012.
An exceptionally broad curriculum is just one of the ways in which this program offers talented young
researchers a superior academic learning environment. Students enjoy a high level of faculty guidance and peer
support in writing their research proposal, which serves as the basis for future applications to PhD or other
research positions. Students enjoy exceptional flexibility, with the scope to choose their own research topic,
supervisor and research group.
The LLM Research Master in Law is your opportunity to immerse yourself in the task of developing new
knowledge and first-rate academic research skills in the area that interests you - knowledge that can help solve
important societal issues.
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Selected Publications
This section gives an overview of some of the most important academic publications by ReflecT’s researchers
and staff. It provides a list containing the publications as well as elaborations on some of the publications.
Publication List
Arni, P., Lalive, L. & Van Ours, J. C. (2012). How effective are unemployment benefit sanctions? Looking beyond
unemployment exit. Journal of Applied Econometrics. Advance online publication.
Bekker, S. (2012). Flexicurity: The Emergence of a European Concept,
Social Europe Series, Volume 30, Antwerp, Belgium: Intersentia.
Sonja Bekker has written a book about Flexicurity in 2012. Flexicurity has been a
core concept in the EU’s employment debates as of 2006 and was codified into
common principles of flexicurity in December 2007. Flexicurity remains an
important part of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the flagship agenda for new skills
and jobs, and is seen as an alternative for one-sided liberalisation tendencies. This
book “Flexicurity: The Emergence of a European Concept” is about a study that
explains the development and conclusion of the EU’s flexicurity concept. This study
found more than 20 factors to explain the emergence of flexicurity, suggesting that
a wide variety of variables which interact in a complex web of events and actions
form the basis of any flexicurity agreement.
Bekker, S. (2012). The role of European Institutions and third actors in the development of the European
flexicurity concept. Paper for the University Association for Contemporary European Studies 42nd Annual Conference,
taking place in Passau, Germany, 3-5 September 2012.
Bekker, S. (2012). Mixing ‘hard’ law and ‘soft’ governance? The impact of stricter European economic
governance on employment and social policies. Paper for the 8th Transatlantic Dialogue, Workshop Social risks and
the role of the state, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, June 2012.
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Bekker, S. (2012). De EU verlangt óók sociale investering, Socialevraagstukken.nl, 4 June 2012.
Bekker, S. (2012). Over jeugdwerkloosheid is het in Nederland te stil. Socialevraagstukken.nl, 21 February 2012.
Bekker, S. & Chung, H. (2012). Unemployment is not the only urgent Youth Issue. Social Europe Journal, 31
August 2012.
Bekker, S. & Palinkas, I. (2012). The Impact of the Financial Crisis on EU Economic Governance: A Struggle
between Hard and Soft Law and Expansion of the EU Competences? Tilburg Law Review, 17, 359–365.
Bekker, S. & Vink, D. (2012). Tackling Long-Term Unemployment: Experiences from the Netherlands. Report for
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Berlin, November 2012.
Boone, J. & Van Ours, J. C. (2012). Why is there a spike in the job finding rate at benefit exhaustion? De
Economist, 160, 413-438.
Borghouts - van de Pas, I.W.C.M. (2012). Securing job-to-job transitions in the labour market. Nijmegen: Wolf Legal
Publishers.
Borghouts - van de Pas, I.W.C.M. (2012). Lessen over werkzekerheid uit Zweden en Spanje. Economisch
Statistische Berichten, 97 (4647), 68-73.
Breen, R., Luijkx, R., Müller, W. & Pollak, R. (2012). Bildungsdisparitäten nach sozialer Herkunft und
Geschlechtim Wandel—Deutschland im internationalen Vergleich. Kölner Zeitschrift für Sozialpsychologie, 52,
346-373.
Chung, H., Bekker, S. & Houwing, H. (2012). Young people and the post-recession labour market in the context
of Europe 2020. Transfer, 18 (3), 299 - 315.
Dekker, R. & Wilthagen, A.C.J.M. (2012). Reflecties op de arbeidsmarkt. Tilburg,
the Netherlands: Celsus.
On November 20th of 2012, Ton Wilthagen and Ronald Dekker’s book
‘ReflecTies op de arbeidsmarkt’ was presented to the public. The main
denominator is job security, a research theme that in the last three years,
was one of the focus points of ReflecT. In this book, Ronald Dekker and Ton
Wilthagen compile their own columns and articles and those of their fellow
researchers. The first copy was given to a senior job-seeker and a young
flex-worker.
Diebels, M. & Ridder, N. (2012). Kleine Praktijkgids Arbeidsrecht/Sociale Zekerheid. Alphen aan den Rijn, the
Netherlands: B+B Vakmedianet.
Freese, C., Paauwe, J. & Schalk, R. (2012). Percepties van werkgevers en werknemers over de ideale
arbeidsrelatie. ESB Dossier Werkzekerheid, 97, 50-55.
Gelissen, J.P.T.M., Van Oorschot, W. J. H. & Finsveen, E.M. (2012). How does the welfare state influence
individuals’ social capital? Eurobarometer evidence on individuals’ access to informal help. European Societies,
14(3), 416-440.
Gellert, F.J. & Schalk, R. (2012). Age-related attitudes: The influence on relationships and performance at work.
Journal of Health Organization and Management, 26(1), 98-117.
Güveli, A., Luijkx, R. & Ganzeboom, H.B.G. (2012). Patterns of intergenerational mobility of the old and new
middle classes in a post-industrial society: Netherlands 1970-2006. Social Science Research, 41(224), 224-241.
Headey, B., Muffels, R.J.A. & Wagner, G. (2012). Parents Transmit Happiness along with associated values and
behaviors to their children - A lifelong happiness dividend. IZA Discussion Papers: 6944.
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Hendrickx, F.H.R. (Ed.). (2012). Active ageing and labour law: Contributions in honour of professor Roger Blanpain.
Antwerp, Belgium: Intersentia.
Kroon, B. & Freese, C. (2012). Dragen I-deals bij aan motivatie en retentie van werknemers? Tijdschrift voor
HRM, 2, 43-56.
Melzer, S.M. & Muffels, R.J. A. (2012). Migrant’s Pursuit of Happiness. The impact of adaptation,
social comparison and relative deprivation: Evidence from a ‘natural’ experiment. DIW-SOEP Papers on
multidisciplinary panel data research: 448.
Muffels, R.J.A. & Dekker, R. (2012). Flexibilisering en regulering van werkzekerheid. Economisch-Statistische
Berichten, 97(4647S), 18-23.
Pavlopoulos, D., Muffels, R.J. A. & Vermunt, J.K. (2012). How real is mobility between low pay, high pay and nonemployment? Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 175, 749–773.
Picchio, M. & Van Ours, J.C. (2012). Retaining through training even for older workers. Economics of Education
Review, 32, 29-48.
Pop, I., Van Ingen, E., & Van Oorschot, W.H.J. (2012). Inequality, Wealth and Health: Is Decreasing Income
Inequality the Key to Create Healthier Societies? Social Indicators Research DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0125-6.
Reeskens, T., & Van Oorschot, W.J.H. (2012). Those who are in the gutter look at the stars? Explaining
perceptions of labour market opportunities among European young adults. Work, Employment and Society,
26(3), 379-395.
Reeskens, T., & Van Oorschot, W.J.H. (2012). Disentangling the ‘New Liberal Dilemma’: On the relation between
general welfare redistribution preferences and welfare chauvinism. International Journal of Comparative Sociology,
53(2), 120-139.
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Skugor, D., Muffels, R.J.A., & Wilthagen, A.C.J.M. (2012). Labour law, social norms and the early retirement
decision: An empirical study. In: Hendrickx, F.H.R. (Ed.) Active ageing and labour law: Contributions in honour of
professor Roger Blanpain. (297-318). Belgium: Intersentia.
Tros, F.H. (2012). The double crisis of flexicurity in Europe. In Beyond Borders: Governance of Work in a Global
Economy. Working paper presented in the ILERA World Congress 2012 in Phyladelphia.
Tros, F.H. & Wilthagen, A.C.J.M. (2012). Flexicurity: concept, practices and indicators. In Bent Greve (Ed.),
International Handbook of Welfare States. New York: Routledge.
Vandeputte, W. (2012). Ontslagrecht en de arbeidsmarkt. Naar een modernisering van het Belgische ontslagrecht.
(Part of the series: Reeks van het Belgische Genootschap voor Arbeids- en Socialezekerheidsrecht.) Brugge: die
Keure.
Van Oorschot, W.J.H., & Jeene, M.D. (2012). Is solidariteitspessimisme gerechtvaardigd? Socialisme &
Democratie, (7/8), 45-54.
Van Oorschot, W.J.H.. & Meuleman, B. (2012). Welfarism and the multidimensionality of welfare state
legitimacy: evidence from the Netherlands, 2006. International Journal of Social Welfare, 21(1), 79-93.
Verhulp, E. & Beltzer, R.M. (2012). Capita selecta cao-recht. Den Haag: Boom juridische uitgevers.
Wilthagen, A.C.J.M., Verhulp, E., Gonggrijp, L., Dekker, R. & Van der Meer, M.
(2012). Naar een nieuw Dutch Design voor flexibel én zeker werk. Tilburg, the
Netherlands: Celsus.
This manifest aims to evaluate the developments pertaining to flexibility and security on
the Dutch labour market that have come about since the 1990s. In order to adapt the
working of flexibility and security to better fit the present situation, a strategic reconsideration
took place for which over one hundred participants came with new ideas. These ideas are
Skugor, D., & Bekker, S. (2012). Employment policies to promote active ageing in the Netherlands, European
Employment Observatory, February 2012, 1-10.
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formulated to be premises which are presented in the manifest. Put first and foremost is
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the goal of high-grade flexibility, indicating that a trade-off between quality and flexibility must be avoided. Also, open-ended
contracts should be made more attractive without forcing back flexibility. In fact, flexibility should be ‘normalised’ and complexity
should be reduced. A division of society should not arise. Rather, emancipation should be realised.
Zandvliet, K., Gravesteijn, J., Tanis, O., Dekker, R., & Skugor, D. (2013). ZZP tussen werknemer en ondernemer.
Rotterdam, The Netherlands: SEOR BV.
Zekic, N. (2012). De actuele invulling van het werkzekerheidsbeleid in Nederlandse cao’s. Economisch Statistische Berichten, 97(4647S), 62-67.
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ReflecT, the Research Institute for Flexicurity, Labour Market Dynamics and Social Cohesion at Tilburg
University, is an inter-facultary and multi-disciplinary research institute initiated and coordinated by the Tilburg
Law School in which also the Tilburg School of Economics and Management and the School of Social and
Behavioral Sciences are involved.
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© REFLECT 2013
Editors: Chantal Dohmen
Joey van den Eijnden
Design: PrismaPrint
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© REFLECT 2013
Editors: Loreen Wilthagen
Joey van den Eijnden
Design: PrismaPrint
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Van Landeghem, B. & Cörvers, F. (2013). Impactmeting voor inspectiediensten: theorie en aanbevelingen voor
de Vlaamse Inspectie Werk en Sociale Economie. Over Werk, 23 (3), 23-30.
Wilthagen, A.C.J.M., Muffels, R. and Chung, H. (2013), The state of affairs of flexicurity in industrial relations:
assessing country performance using transition indicators, In: Pulignano, V., & Arrowsmith, J. (Eds.), The
Transformation of Employment Relations. Institutions and Outcomes in the Age of Globalization (Chapter 7, 1-32).
New York: Routledge.
Chocolate is the answer, no matter what the question is…
An important contributor to the realisation of these
publications, projects, and presentations, but also
to the pleasant working atmosphere at ReflecT
is the box of chocolates. The chocolate, known
for its uplifting and inspiring effect, in this (nigh)
never-exhausted tin draws many ReflecT’ers to the
secretariat. After a moment of ReflecTion, consisting
of a piece of chocolate and a nice chat, ReflecT’ers
go back to work with renewed enthusiasm and
inspiration.
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Picchio, M. & Van Ours, J.C. (2013). Retaining through training even for older workers. Economics of Education
Review, 32 (1), 29-48.
Montizaan, R.M., Cörvers, F. & De Grip, A. (2013). Training and retirement patterns. Applied Economics, 45 (15),
1991-1999.
Muffels, R. (2013). Flexibilisering en de toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt. In: Scheele, D., De Graaf-Zijl, M. en
Koning, P.: Flexibiliteit en zekerheid op een dynamische arbeidsmarkt. De balans in beweging, Den Haag: Ministerie
van SoZaWe, 11-34.
Martinez-Fernandez, C., Weyman, T., Cörvers, F., Van Dijk, J., Edzes, A., De Grip, A., Hamersma, M., Taylor,
P., Van Thor, J.A.F. & Verwest, F. (2013). Demographic change in the Netherlands. (OECD Local Economic and
Employment Development (LEED) Working Papers 2013/13). Brussel: OECD/LEED.
A New Paradigm for the Analysis of Labor Markets and Policies Challenging the Trade-Off Between
Flexibility and Security
The relationship between flexibility and security in European labour markets is not necessarily featured by
a trade-off as is presumed in conventional economic thinking, but that in line with the flexicurity thesis
positive sum-games are feasible if institutions are adjusted to improve the match of workers to jobs by
investing in employability and by facilitating transitions into better jobs and better work-life conditions.
The evidence presented confirms that fairly high levels of mobility and security can be attained
simultaneously, but this result is only achieved in a selection of European countries. In this sense the
promise of flexicurity still needs to be fulfilled further.
Ruud Muffels and Ton Wilthagen, (2013). Flexicurity: A New Paradigm for the Analysis of Labor Markets
and Policies Challenging the Trade-Off Between Flexibility and Security, Sociology Compass, 7 (2), 111–122.
Muffels, R. and Headey B. (2013). Capabilities and choices: Do they make Sense for understanding objective
and subjective well-being? An empirical test of Sen’s capability framework on German and British panel data.”
Social Indicators Research, 110 (3): 1159-1185.
Muffels, R. (2013). Flexibilisering en de toegang tot de arbeidsmarkt. TPE-Tijdschrift voor Politieke Economie
Digitaal, 7 (4): 79-99.
Van den Heuvel, S.R.H., Schalk, R., Freese, C. & Timmerman, V. (2013). Reacties van werknemers op
organisatieveranderingen: Een managementperspectief. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 4, 72-95.
Van der Klaauw, B. & Van Ours, J.C. (2013). Carrot and stick: How reemployment bonuses and benefit sanctions
affect exit rates from welfare. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 28 (2), 275-296.
Van der Smissen, S., Schalk, R. & Freese, C. (2013). Contemporary psychological contracts: How both employer
and employee are changing the employment relationship. Management Revue, 24 (4), 309-327.
Van der Smissen, S., Schalk, R. & Freese, C. (2013).
Organizational change and the psychological contract;
How change influences the perceived fulfillment
of obligations. Journal of Organizational Change
Management, 26 (6), 1071-1090.
Van Landeghem, B. & Cörvers, F. (2013). Effect- en
impactmeting van de Inspectie Werk en Sociale Economie
(IWSE) in Vlaanderen: Analyse en aanbevelingen. (ROA
Technical Reports 002). Maastricht: Research Centre for
Education and the Labour Market.
Muffels, R. (2013). Zzp’ers: Insiders of outsiders? In: Dekker, F. (Red.) En toen waren er zzp’ers. Den Haag: BoomLemma Uitgevers, 37-57.
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Cörvers, F., Fouarge, D., De Hoon, M.L.A., Künn-Nelen, A.C., Van Thor, J.A.F., Verhagen, A.M.C., Dijksman, S.,
Clerx, R., Salamanca Acosta, N. & Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M. (2013). De arbeidsmarkt naar opleiding en beroep tot
2018. (ROA Reports 011). Maastricht: Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market.
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Clerx, R., Cörvers, F. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Factsheet West-Brabant. Maastricht: ETIL.
Cörvers, F. (2013). Crisis zorgt voor nieuwe aanwas op pabo’s. In: Schooljournaal (television broadcast on
12 January, 2013).
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Clerx, R., Cörvers, F. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Factsheet provincie Noord-Brabant.
Maastricht: ETIL.
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Clerx, R., Cörvers, F. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Factsheet Zuidoost-Brabant.
Maastricht: ETIL.
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Cörvers, F., Dijksman, S. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Doelmatigheid mbo in de regio. (ROA
Technical Reports 001). Maastricht: Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market.
Boselie, J.P.P.E.F. & Paauwe, J. (2013). De Hollandse school in human resource management. In: Schouteten,
R., Bücker, J. & Poutsma, E. (Eds.), HRM, het nuttigheidsdenken voorbij? Een Liber Amicorum voor Willem de Nijs.
Den Haag: Boom-Lemma Uitgevers.
Cörvers, F. (2013). Langdurige tijdelijke arbeidsrelaties als stimulans voor een hogere participatie van ouderen op de
arbeidsmarkt. (NEA Papers, 50). Tilburg: Netspar.
Cörvers, F. (2013). The impact of distance deterrence on the choice of field of study in vocational education
in the Netherlands. For the 3rd Congress on Research in Vocational Education and Training, Bern/Zollikofen, 13-15
March 2013.
Cörvers, F. (2013). VET and productivity - A three-country analysis. For the 3rd Congress on Research in Vocational
education and Training, Bern/Zollikofen, 13-15 March 2013.
Cörvers, F. (2013). Managing territorial demographic transitions and declining labour supply, challenges for
Zeeland. In: S. Giguère, S. Arzeni & C. Martinez (Eds.), Demographic change in the Netherlands: strategies for
resilient labour markets (136-164). Paris: OECD.
Cörvers, F. (2013). Inleveren salaris voor oudere werknemers Cap Gemini. In: Balkon L1 (radio broadcast on
10 January, 2013).
De Lange, A., Schalk, R. & Van der Heijden, B. (2013). Ouder worden en duurzame inzetbaarheid op het werk.
In: Schaufeli, W. & Bakker, A. (Eds.), De psychologie van arbeid en gezondheid. Houten: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum,
p. 381-398
Innovative HR activities
It’s remarkable that most HR managers exclusively target their permanent employees when it comes to
developing innovative HR activities, with a few exceptions. We hardly found any innovative HR policies
with regard to flexible workforces.
Charissa Freese, René Schalk and Jaap Paauwe, (2013). Flexicurity in organisaties: innovatieve HRactiviteiten. Tijdschrift voor HRM, 1, 53-68.
Headey, B., Muffels, R.J.A., & Wagner, G. (2013). Choices which change life satisfaction: Similar results for
Australia, Britain and Germany, Social Indicators Research, DOI 10.1007/s11205-012-0079-8.
Headey, B., R. Muffels & Wagner G. (2013). Parents Transmit Happiness Along with Associated Values to Their
Children: A Lifelong Happiness Dividend? Social Indicators Research, (DOI 10.1007/s11205-013-0326-7),
(accepted 1 April 2013).
Hullegie, P.G.J. & Van Ours, J.C. (2013). Seek and Ye shall Find: How Search Requirements Affect Job Finding
Rates of Older Workers. Tilburg CentER Discussion Paper; vol. 2013-028.
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Selected Publications
Arni, P., Lalive, R. & Van Ours, J.C. (2013). How effective are unemployment benefit sanctions? Looking beyond
unemployment exit. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 28 (7), 1153-1178.
Bekker, S. (2013). A new space for EU social policy coordination?
www.policy-network.net/pno_detail.aspx?ID=4390&title=A-new-space-for-EU-social-policy-coordination, 3 May 2013.
Bekker, S. (2013). Maak een plan om jongeren perspectief te bieden. Zeggenschap, 3, 8-10.
Bekker, S. (2013). Measuring The EMU’s Social Dimension.
www.social-europe.eu/2013/11/measuring-the-emus-social-dimension
Bekker, S. (2013). The EU’s stricter economic governance: a step towards more binding coordination of social
policies? WZB Discussion Paper: SP IV 2013-501. Available at: http://bibliothek.wzb.eu/pdf/2013/iv13-501.pdf
Bekker, S. (2013). Brussel of Den Haag? Europese invloed in sociale zekerheid. (Brussels or The Hague?
European influence in social security). Presentation for the NISZ study day, Utrecht, 22 March 2013.
Bekker, S. (2013). EU economic governance in action: coordinating employment and social policies in the third
European Semester. Presentation for the lunch-seminar organised by the Institute of Labour Law, themed ‘Labour
Law, social protection and the crisis: Evaluating the case of Greece and EU governance’, KU Leuven, Belgium,
26 November 2013.
Bekker, S. (2013). EU economic governance in action: coordinating employment and social policies in the third
European Semester. Paper and presentation for the NIG (Netherlands Institute of Government) annual conference,
Panel ‘Future of social Europe’, Enschede, The Netherlands, 28 November 2013.
Bekker, S. & Klosse, S. (2013). EU governance of economic and social policies: chances and challenges for Social
Europe. European Journal of Social Law, 2, p. 103-120.
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Bekker, S. & Klosse, S. (2013). Chances and challenges of EU governance for social policies: Poverty and social
inclusion coordination in Germany and The Netherlands. Paper and presentation for the ILERA conference,
Amsterdam, 20-22 June 2013.
Dutch green economy does not directly support job creation
Dutch ideas on developing a green economy mainly aim at stimulating green growth, the economy and
competitiveness. Job creation is seen as a positive consequence of economic growth, yet is not a direct
aim in itself. The government finds that green initiatives should spring from private companies, local
organisations and citizens, and it therefore especially wants to set a framework and act as a facilitator.
The Netherlands has a range of subsidies and transfer schemes, however, these are mostly aimed at
stimulating green growth and green innovation and to a lesser extent at job creation. The schemes
described in most detail, the Green Deals, also show this bias towards economy and innovation, as only
a few specifically state to have job creation as one of its goals. Even though the Dutch strategy of acting
as a facilitator for local initiatives may be a valuable one, the small scale of the green economy in the
Netherlands and its vulnerability to the influence of economic crises, may eventually require firmer state
support. Also upscaling the size of initiatives may need additional strategies other than the ones currently
being developed. As such it is good that extra funds have been made available for the subsidy scheme for
renewable energy 2013. However, future schemes may benefit from including targets on job creation and
this could very well become one of the criteria on which state support may be based.
Sonja Bekker, (2013). EEO Review: Promoting green jobs throughout the crisis in the Netherlands. In:
European Employment Observatory, Promoting green jobs throughout the crisis: a handbook of best practices
in Europe. Brussels: European Employment Observatory.
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Clerx, R., Cörvers, F. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Factsheet Midden-Brabant. Maastricht:
ETIL.
Bertrand-Cloodt, D.A.M., Clerx, R., Cörvers, F. & Van Thor, J.A.F. (2013). Factsheet Noordoost-Brabant.
Maastricht: ETIL.
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ReflecT in the Media
Just like the preceding year, the year 2013 was a very turbulent year for the labour market, the (inter)national
economy, and society as a whole.
Think of the rather unexpected dismissals in the health care sector, the troublesome negotiations for the
collective wage agreements and the disappointing unemployment rates. The ReflecT researchers and professors
were frequently asked for their opinion on these and many other issues.
But ReflecT’s researchers and professors were not only in the news when bad news was reported. They were
also asked for their view on good news. Sometimes, the reason for the good news even came directly from
ReflecT’ers. Examples are the Work Experience Grants, the National Work Visit Day and the contribution to the
Opening of the Academic Year at Tilburg University.
This resulted yet again in a fair amount of media attention with appearances in topical programmes and news
broadcasts on radio and television, interviews in newspapers and magazines, and a great many contributions to
scientific journals.
All this media attention resulted in high rankings in Tilburg University’s 2013 “Media Top”. Ton Wilthagen
moved from a third place in 2012 to an impressive second place in 2013. With a total amount of 334 hits,
Ton appeared, on average, in the media almost every day! This did not go unnoticed by other rankings. Local
newspaper Brabants Dagblad awarded Ton the second place in the election for ‘Newsmaker 2013’.
Ronald Dekker also managed to improve his ranking this year. After entering the Media Top in 2011 in 25th place,
he soared via a 9th place in 2012 to the 5th place in the 2013 Media Top!
After scoring high on the list for the Tilburg School of Behavioural Sciences, Ruud Muffels now also makes his
appearance in the university-wide Media Top. In the list of researchers and professors with the most hits, Ruud
enters in 28th place. He is also second in the list for the Tilburg School of Behavioural Sciences.
Although she was not placed in the university-wide Media Top, Sonja Bekker was also consulted on a regular
basis by various media. Being an expert in the field of youth unemployment, Sonja was often approached by
journalists with questions on this topic.
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Tilburg University has also created Startersbeurs-positions and so has ReflecT. Since November 2013, Wendy
Wesseling and Roy Peijen have been working here. This is how they experience working with a Work Experience
Grant at ReflecT.
Wendy Wesseling
Halfway November, I started working at ReflecT via the Work Experience Grant. Despite
the enthusiasm and tenacity of Ronald Lievens, I doubted for some time whether a
Work Experience position would be a good next step for me. Now, I am glad I made
the decision to apply. I now also realise that I have underestimated the importance of
finding work that matches your level of education and the influence that has on your job
satisfaction. At ReflecT, I have learned more and have met more interesting people than
in all the years I have been working a student’s job at a drugstore.
Roy Peijen
It is so obvious to congratulate someone when he or she graduates. Nevertheless,
in these times that are characterised by a lack of vacancies and fierce competition
among the recently graduated, this period personally felt for me as a curse since every
application resulted in a deep disappointment. However, my internship (Startersbeurs)
gave me the opportunity to make and certainly feel myself useful again, in which the
latter is the most important of the two. Notwithstanding, it has allowed me to develop
my skills and apply my academic knowledge, yet the change from a nobody to being or
becoming somebody might be the best result of the Work Experience position in which I
experienced it…
On the Work Visit Day, the workers of companies and public institutions that joined the initiative had the
opportunity to invite job seekers for a work visit in their company or institution. In this way, information could
be exchanged and suggestions could be made that would help job seekers in their search for a job. It was not a
job market, there were no obligations – it was just about meeting each other.
Organisations gave a realistic picture of the circumstances, there were no false expectations aroused. The
companies thought along well with the job seekers. The job seekers were highly motivated and had great
abilities. In short, the first Work Visit Day was a very successful day. Many people want to organise another Work
Visit Day next year.
National Work Visit Day
The Dutch initiative for a national “Work Visit Day” was held for the first time on the 12th of December 2013.
The Work Visit Day is an initiative of professor Ton Wilthagen of ReflecT (Tilburg University). He started the
idea on Twitter, where it was received enthusiastically. There were many positive reactions and businesses and
individuals provided support. Within a short time, a website was launched (www.werkbezoekdag.nl) and a
Twitter account was created. On Twitter, a matching process arose: companies and job seekers found each other
at a high rate. The atmosphere was very positive and benevolent.
European Employment Policy Observatory
As has been the case for the past years, Sonja continues in her role of labour market correspondent for the
European Employment Policy Observatory (EEPO). As such, she writes quarterly reports that reflect the
developments in the Dutch labour market. The information provided to the EEPO ranges from employment and
participation rates to recently enforced laws and other noteworthy events and trends.
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What is Brainport Development doing?
- Development of the strategy for and with the Brainport region
- Development of projects and programmes
- Individual business advice and innovative housing
- Branding of the Brainport region
In those four days that I’m working at Brainport Development I combine two things:
- One day a week I am working as a liaison officer to make connections between Tilburg University and the
Brainport region. The Strategic Plan of our university has the ambition to make an active contribution to
strengthening the competitiveness of the region. This ambition is based on the idea that both the social
context and the economic and legal framework within which innovation takes place, are highly significant for
the competitiveness of our region. Another consideration is the belief that students are not only trained to
become competent practitioners of a discipline, but also to become engaged (world) citizens who see it as
their responsibility to contribute to good innovation. For these reasons and in collaboration with partners
from the so-called triple helix (government, civil society and private parties) our university participates in both
Midpoint Brabant and Brainport Development and thereby contributes to the Brainport 2020 strategy for
South-East Netherlands. We want, as university, to remain involved as a partner in the Brainport region and
further strengthen this position in the coming years and expand it through a role in thinking through and in
facilitating open innovation as necessary preconditions.
- The other three days I work as a Programme Manager within the People domain. In the Brainport
Development organisation I am responsible for the implementation of programmes and projects in the field of
education and labour market issues and the Dutch Technology Week, an annual event with amazing, innovative
technology stories from Brainport Eindhoven.
Practices
Below, two examples of knowledge valorisation and social innovation are highlighted: the Work Experience
Grant scheme, Startersbeurs in Dutch, for young job seekers and the National Work Visit Day, Nationale
Werkbezoek Dag in Dutch. In fact, these two initiatives can also be considered quasi-experiments that allow for
data collection and scientific research on the practical effects.
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Work Experience Grant
Ton Wilthagen, in cooperation with FNV Jong and CNV Jongeren (organisations for youth within the two largest
labour unions in the Netherlands), has developed the idea of a Work Experience Grant. This is a programme
that offers young people who (just) finished their education but struggle to find a job, the possibility to develop
competencies and skills that are valued by employers and at the same time correspond to the participant’s level
of education. Moreover, besides gaining a more promising position on the labour market, the youths receive a
compensation of €500 per month from the internship firm which also adds another €100 per month to a credit
which can be used for purposes of education and obtaining certifications.
But the internship firm also gains from this programme. It gets input from qualified and ambitious young
people, who introduce fresh ideas and new perspectives to the company. A youth with a Grant may well become
the company’s new employee, making the contribution to the programme a valuable addition to the firm’s
recruitment activities.
Of course, the municipalities themselves benefit as well. Obtaining work experience makes that its inhabiting
youths are better equipped for the labour market, which increases their chance to find employment and
prevents them from having to apply for social assistance. Because the municipalities also see the value of the
programme, they contribute €400 per month for the costs of guidance for each Work Experience position.
Before the work experience period is started, the job seeker fills out a competence module, developed by Ronald
Lievens from ReflecT, who writes his dissertation on the use of such ePortfolio’s in the labour market. The
employer and the job seeker use the results from this competence test to determine which competences will
be emphasised in the trajectory. At the end of the trajectory the competence test will be repeated and the job
seeker gets an experience certificate that indicates what competences have been strengthened during the work
experience period.
To prevent that such an appealing programme is used by employers to replace employees by Work Experience
Grant participants, the positions are checked on the meeting of strict demands and may only be offered if they
are purely for additional functions.
In April 2013, the first youths began to gain work experience by means of this programme in several
municipalities, among others in Tilburg and Den Bosch. Now, over 150 municipalities have implemented the
Work Experience Grant, and this number is still increasing.
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Valorisation and social innovation
Knowledge valorisation has by now become established as the third pillar of universities’ core activities next
to research and education. This is increasingly stressed by VSNU, the association of Dutch universities, NOW,
the Dutch Research Council and The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). Valorisation
can take different forms and can take place through different channels. Education as such is a traditional
export channel for universities and so are publications and presentations for a larger audience. Valorisation
can also be organised through collaboration and co-creation among universities, business, (local) government
and civil society and result in various models, concepts, activities, interventions, products and services. At
Tilburg University, knowledge valorisation is strongly related to social innovation. Together we are taking the
initiative for new strategies, concepts, ideas, products, services, and models that meet various people’s needs.
Developing current knowledge requires combining strengths. To this end, Tilburg University brings different
fields together in multidisciplinary teams and collaborates in network organisations such as ReflecT.
Innovating and monitoring regional labour markets
As in previous years ReflecT worked closely with various actors at all levels of society with the aim of innovating
and studying the workings of the labour market. These cooperations yield rich data and insights. There are good
working relations with municipalities such as Tilburg, Eindhoven, Den Bosch, Breda, Rotterdam, Dordrecht
etcetera but also with regions and the province of Brabant. Regions that can be mentioned in particular are
Midpoint (or the middle Part of Brabant), Gelderland, where the employers’ association WZW has developed
a labour market model that facilitates workers in job-to-job transitions, the West of Brabant, that also has
a network for employment transitions and Brainport Eindhoven Region. Tilburg University is a member of
Brainport and Jenny Krebbers acts as a liaison officer, linking the expertise and research of ReflecT to the
Brainport Development activities and strategies in the so-called ‘People domain’.
Jenny Krebbers
Since the first of June 2013, I am seconded from the department Strategy & Policy at Tilburg
University to Brainport Development in Eindhoven for four days a week.
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Brussels Seminar
On November 29th, 2013, ReflecT organised a seminar titled “Employment security and job security: synergies,
trade-offs and flexicurity policies” at the Crowne Plaza in Brussels. This seminar was one of the dissemination
activities with regard to our three-year research programme on “Employment security”, funded by the Dutch
Gak Institute (Instituut Gak). The starting point of the seminar was the following major debate in Europe.
European labour markets need to be flexible and secure. This is conventional wisdom in both academic and
policy circles. But what level and type of flexibility and security is sufficient and can be provided by properly
designed welfare state institutions and policies? Can a loss of job security be compensated through higher
levels of ‘employment security’? What does this ‘new’ security look like and how can it be organised?
This conference dealt with these questions and discusses the concept of employment security, juxtaposing
this to the traditional notion of job security. There were two keynote speakers and two commentators. Mr.
Zoltán Kazatsay, Deputy Director General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European
Commission reflected on the Commission’s analysis and policy strategies regarding the impact of the crisis
on employment security, stressing the dim prospects of notably young people in the labour market. Mrs.
Sandrine Cazes, senior researcher at the OECD, reported on a new OECD project on job quality, finding and
using adequate indicators which include a measure of employment security. The commentators were ms.
Agnieszka Piasna from the European Trade Union Institute and mr. Max Conzemius from BDA die Arbeitgeber,
a confederation of German employers.
ReflecT researcher Ronald Dekker presented on the concept and definition of employment security, Ruud
Muffels spoke on his comparative analysis of job and employment insecurity, flexibility and welfare state
institutions in Europe, Nuna Zekic dealt with the question whether a right to employment security is emerging,
and Charissa Freese and Ton Wilthagen focused on the possibilities and limitations of shaping employment
security at the national, regional and company level.
The seminar ended with a plenary session – with drinks – showing much consensus on the need of developing
and expanding labour market institutions and strategies in order to avoid further trade-offs between on the one
hand labour market flexibility and employment security on the other.
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Education
‘European Labour Law and Social Policy’ for BSc Liberal Arts and Sciences
The course aims at developing a deeper understanding about the EU’s competences and practices in developing
and implementing labour law and social policies. It actively discusses common European challenges and the
options to transform these challenges into common European goals. To the extent that national responses are
given, students will learn to interpret these answers in the context of methods of European coordination and
governance. Ample attention will be devoted to the impact of the crisis on the goals and governance methods of
the EU. The lectures combine a theoretical approach to Europeanisation and governance with empirical scrutiny
of the EU’s coordination of social policies and the practices and responses of several member states. Students
will thus learn what impact the EU has on national labour law and social policy affairs.
This course departs from the challenges and opportunities arising from the shared responsibility of the EU and
its member states concerning labour law and social policy. It deals with the division of competences in this area
as well as the interaction between EU labour law and social policies on the one hand and national labour law
and social policies on the other hand. It encompasses European standards as well as soft law coordination in
employment and social policy fields and reflects upon the relation between hard and soft law steering and the
different responsibilities member states have under the different governance methods. Students are challenged
to explore how member states deal with these EU-level targets in their own policy responses.
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Lunch Seminars and Conferences
Lunch seminars 2013
The lunch seminars are meant as an informal way to exchange research findings, ideas, and thoughts both
within the ReflecT group and with external participants. Topics vary over the broad range associated with the
institute’s research. In 2013, we predominantly discussed labour market topics (for example The rise and fall
of solo self-employment? by Ruud Muffels and Ronald Dekker (both ReflecT, Tilburg University), Long term
temporary contracts on the Dutch labour market (Frank Cörvers, ROA/ReflecT, Tilburg University), The labour
market for older workers and employability, Rob Euwals, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis).
In another lunch seminar we discussed the relation between ‘trust’ and labour market outcomes (Trust,
organisational achievement and labour market outcomes, with Rene Schalk and Ruud Muffels (both ReflecT,
Tilburg University). The broad range of topics was addressed from different academic and policy perspectives,
and we have again succeeded in addressing many questions with regard to ‘flexicurity, labour market dynamics
and social cohesion’, the central research area of ReflecT.
Conference ‘Van werk naar werk: lessons learned’
Held on 15 April 2013 at CAOP in The Hague and organised in cooperation with consultancy firm Ecorys, the
Gak Institute, and knowledge center on labour affairs CAOP, the conference ‘Van werk naar werk: lessons
learned’ (‘Job-to-job policies: lessons learned’) aimed at discussing policies in the field of job-to-job transitions.
Taking on an international approach, the speakers presented policies from the Netherlands and other European
countries, in particular Sweden, Germany and Belgium. As an introduction to the topic, Irmgard Borghouts
– van de Pas (Tilburg University/Ecorys) presented
her promotional research titled ‘Securing job-to-job
transitions in the labour market’ in which she discusses
job-to-job transition policies of European countries.
Following Irmgard’s presentation, Nicolette van Gestel
(Tilburg University/TiasNimbas Business School)
evaluated the results of nine job-to-job transition
projects conducted in The Netherlands. During three
work sessions, the approaches of Sweden, Germany,
and Belgium, which respectively involve transition
funds, transfer companies, and outplacement, were
presented by experts from those countries.
A plenary discussion of the work sessions, under the
direction of Irmgard, and a panel debate on the future
of job-to-job transition policies, under the direction
of Patrick Banis (CAOP) and with Ton Wilthagen as a
panel member, concluded the conference.
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European Parliament Greens-EFA conference
On 4 November 2013, Sonja Bekker gave a presentation for the European Parliament Greens-EFA conference
“Making economic governance serve social justice: A response to the Commission proposal on the “Social
Dimension of the EMU” of October 17, 2013. Social Europe Journal published a short article, bearing the title
‘Measuring the EMU’s Social Dimension’. A video of the event can be viewed on
http://greenmediabox.eu/archive/2013/10/17/making-economic-governance-serve-social-justice.
New chair on the labour market of the education sector – two professors
Two new colleagues joined ReflecT: professor Marc van der Meer
and professor Frank Cörvers were appointed to the joint chair (2x
0.2 fte) for the study of the labour market of the education sector (de
onderwijsarbeidsmarkt). This chair is founded by the Dutch Ministry
of Education, Culture and Science via CAOP – the knowledge and
service centre, based in The Hague, with regards to the labour
market and labour relations within the public domain. Marc and
Frank were both trained as economists and will focus on issues of
demand and supply, professionalisation, and career tracks in the
labour market of the education sector.
Farewell to Daniela Skugor and Ivana Palinkas
Two ReflecT researchers moved to a new job. Daniela Skugor was granted a PhD position in sociology at the
University of Antwerp, Belgium, where she will continue her research on older workers. Ivana Palinkas returned
to her home country Serbia, where she takes up her job at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Her PhD project
on the legal and institutional framework for collective bargaining in Central and Eastern Europe will soon be
completed.
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During these three days, attendants could listen to presentations by speakers from many different
organisations, such as universities, labour unions, private firms and supranational labour organisations. Both
during plenary sessions and simultaneously held optional sessions many labour-related topics have been
discussed.
During the International ILERA conference, attendants were also able to go on a company visit to the personnel
department of the Municipality of Amsterdam or the ING Bank.
By the end of Saturday afternoon, after two plenary panel sessions, three keynote presentations, many
workshops, and concluding words by ILERA Secretary mr. Oumarou, the conference ended with a dinner in the
historical Chambers of the Dutch Maritime Museum.
Opening of the Academic Year 2013-2014 at Tilburg University
The official Opening of the Academic Year 2013-2014 took place in the university’s
Auditorium on Monday 2 September at 15.30hrs. The theme of the academic
session was the labour market in 2020. Professor Ton Wilthagen acted as the
keynote speaker. He presented his views on the roles of the government, the
business community, and science in shaping the labour market of the future and
discussed several strategies for labour market innovation.
Technology but also social innovation, co-creation, and co-production are the
only real answer to the growing uncertainty that has arisen in the wake of the
economic crisis according to Ton Wilthagen. Universities play an important new
role and must take up their responsibility here, together with social partners and
stakeholders. The labour market urgently requires social innovation to allow The
Netherlands and Europe to work better, now and in the future. He defined social
innovation as follows: “new ideas (products, services, and models)
that simultaneously meet social needs and create new relationships or
collaborations. In other words, these are innovations that are both good
for society and enhance society’s capacity to act.”
Wilthagen’s statement that social innovation is needed to jointly
promote and adequately “mix” both economic and ethical goals was
underlined by a surprise performance of dj Eric Arbores,
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a 16 year-old Dutch dj who has already gained world fame. Eric is seen as a whizz kid who enrolled at Delft
Technical University at the age of 15 but decided to give priority to his dj and producer career.
My Future Works
The entrepreneurs Han Peekel and Steve Sichtman have introduced their plan
for a new inspiration park and expert centre called “My Future Works” (“Mijn
Toekomst Werkt”) in 2013. A park that is not focused on fairy tales, pirates and
adventure, but completely focused on the theme of ‘work’. Tilburg University
is closely involved in this plan, professor Ton Wilthagen is involved as a
consultant. At this moment, there are conversations with many companies
and investors. The intention is to locate the park in the Spoorzone Tilburg, the
new development area around the central railway station. The park is aimed
at business visitors who come for conferences and courses, but also at one
day, visitors, including students, pupils, workers and job seekers. It is targeted
at 250,000 to 400,000 visitors annually. The park will, as expected, create
between the 150 and 350 jobs. See (in Dutch) www.mijntoekomstwerkt.nl,
including a short video presentation.
ReflecT moves to offices in the Montesquieu building
In 2013, on October 31, ReflecT left its offices in the Simon building
and moved into new ones in the Montesquieu building. In the days
preceding the move, ReflecT’s researchers and professors were
busy packing their books, office supplies and paperwork in the
moving boxes and crates. This left little room in the offices, for the
cabinets were still in their original place as well. Nevertheless, work
continued at the office until the day preceding the actual move.
A few days later, the offices on the fourth floor of the Simon
building were empty and all the boxes and crates were brought to
the sixth floor of the Montesquieu building where the unpacking began.
Now that all offices are refurnished and work on interesting projects and studies has resumed, we are happy to
welcome you at our new location.
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Special Events
Panel discussion with EU Commissioner László Andor
The think tank Policy Network invited Sonja Bekker for a panel discussion with EU Commissioner László Andor
and prof. Franck Vandenbroucke addressing the question: How can the tension between adjustment strategies
and Europe 2020 social objectives be better handled with during the European Semester? This discussion
took place in London on May 7, 2013, and in connection to this discussion a short article of Sonja Bekker was
published by Policy Network, titled ‘A new space for EU social policy coordination?’
Graduation Annet van Huijkelom: from work experience placement to a job
On the 18th of June, 2013, Annet van HuijkelomFrankena graduated as an applied psychologist
at Fontys Hogeschool HRM and Psychology.
Commissioned by ReflecT, Annet researched the
stimulating and inhibiting factors in successful jobseeking by beneficiaries in the municipality of Tilburg
who have done a work experience trajectory at Tilburg
University. The research shows that the chance of
success grows if people do intensive and extensive job
search. The research also shows that less than 20 percent of this group eventually finds a permanent job. This
result seems to be explained by social-demographic factors, such as age, distance to the labour market and
education. Based on her research Annet gave a number of recommendations, which are primarily aimed at the
municipality. The municipality is able to influence the distance to the labour market of job seekers, for example
by ensuring the cooperation between the representatives of Tilburg municipality and the providers of work
experience places. It’s essential that there exist a kind of labour broker, to maintain close contacts between the
different parties and to coach and guide the beneficiaries.
Scientific board International ILERA conference
Sonja Bekker and Ton Wilthagen were members of the committee that organised the 2013 European
Implications for Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) conference. The event took place in
Amsterdam from 20 to 22 June 2013.
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International Visits
Sonja Bekker guest lecturer at ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de
Lisboa
On the 21st of February 2013, Sonja Bekker visited the University of Lisbon as
a guest lecturer. As one of Sonja’s fields of expertise is the position of young
people on the labour market, she was invited to give a lecture on the topic
‘Young people and the post-recession labour market in the context of Europe
2020’. This lecture was part of a seminar titled ‘A situação dos jovens no
mercado de trabalho’.
Ronald Lievens speaker at AAEEBL conference - Boston
On the 30th of July 2013, Ronald Lievens presented his research on e-portfolios at the annual Association for
Authentic, Experiential, and Evidence-Based Learning conference. He presented a new labour market paradigm
for the e-portfolio, drawing on a written article which has been accepted for publication in the 2014 issue of The
International Journal of ePortfolio. In addition, he presented some preliminary results of his empirical research
towards e-portfolio use in the workplace, and the utility of generic competencies in gaining employment.
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The economic recovery in China was very fast and companies started to hire workers again
over the next few months. By performing their research, Martin and Ruud want to find out
whether the wages had decreased even though the employees were performing the same
work as they did before the crisis. Preliminary findings confirm that this is indeed the case.
However, there are other factors that point to the opposite direction.
Visit of Korean delegation
Travelling half-way across the globe, a delegation of the Korean labour union KPSU (Korea Private Service
Workers Union) came to The Netherlands as part of a study tour. On November 22nd, 2013, they visited ReflecT
to talk about part-time working, its implications and requirements. Because the Korean government considers
promoting part-time work, the Korean labour union wanted to gain information on part-time working as a form
of flexicurity, the conditions required for facilitating part-time working, and the implications it has for the labour
market and for the quality of labour. These questions and many more were discussed with Ronald Dekker, Ruud
Muffels, and Ton Wilthagen.
A few days later, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) also visited ReflecT. This visit was for the purpose of
making a documentary about part-time working. Ton Wilthagen explained the Dutch labour market model and
how it came to take the form it has today. A fragment of the documentary can be found on our website:
www.tilburguniversity.edu/nl/onderzoek/instituten-en-researchgroepen/reflect/film
Visiting researcher Martin Guzi
Between October and December, Martin Guzi of the Masaryk University in the Czech Republic was a visiting
researcher at ReflecT. He worked together with Ruud Muffels on a study into the effects of the crisis on the
wages of workers in the extensively segmented Chinese labour market.
When the global financial crisis began in 2008 and the Chinese economy took a severe hit, companies
immediately discharged many of their employees. Due to a lack of employment protection legislation many of
these people became dependent on family or unemployment benefits. Because unemployment grants are only
distributed in one’s place of birth, many of the people that migrated from the rural areas of China to the larger
cities moved back to their birthplace.
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Some Key Research Findings
Temporary Employment Contracts: Short-term Blessings or Long-term Traps?
In a joint project with Irma Mooi-Reçi, Ronald Dekker investigated whether unemployment spells after
temporary work have a shorter duration than unemployment spells that occur after layoffs from a permanent
job. Using a comprehensive longitudinal dataset of prime-age Dutch workers over the period 1980–2000, they
examined how a previously held job with a fixed-term contract influences both the likelihood and the duration
of a future spell of unemployment. Analyses show that Dutch workers with fixed-term contracts experience
higher risks of future unemployment and have no shorter spells of unemployment compared to workers
with regular contracts. Results also reveal that swifter employment re-entries among men with fixed-term
contracts can be explained by their job search efforts before unemployment. Irma and Ronald’s study (partly)
invalidates theoretical positions that claim that fixed-term contracts foster employment security by shortening
unemployment durations; suggesting that fixed-term contracts are a short-term blessing that could end, for
some workers, in a recurrent unemployment trap.
Irma Mooi-Reçi, (Free University Amsterdam (currently University of Melbourne)) and Ronald Dekker, (2013).
“Temporary Employment Contracts: Short-term Blessings or Long-term Traps?” British Journal of Industrial
Relations (In press).
How effective are unemployment benefit sanctions?
Benefit warnings and reductions increase the rate of leaving unemployment among unemployment benefit
recipients. Yet there is also a significant reduction in post-unemployment earnings, possibly because of lower
reservation wages. On net, the positive effects of leaving unemployment more quickly cease to outweigh these
negative effects of benefit sanctions. This suggests that costs of on-the-job search could be substantial for
workers who have recently left unemployment. Job seekers who are confronted with a warning or a benefit
sanction tend to reduce their demands concerning the quality of the post-unemployment.
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EU economic governance impacts employment and social policies as well
The European Union (EU) has strengthened its economic governance. Yet, such stricter economic governance
also reinforces the coordination of soft employment policies. Comparing the national response to the new EU
demands of the UK, Poland, Germany and Spain in 2009 and 2011, leads to the conclusion that whereas stricter
economic governance gives employment policy coordination more of a legal bite, member states still have
leeway to respond to EU demands.
Sonja Bekker, (2013). The EU’s stricter economic governance: a step towards more binding coordination of
social policies? WZB Discussion Paper, SP IV 2013–501.
A Proposal: Mitigating Effects Of The Economic Crisis With Career e-Portfolios
In the Let’s Connect project, which ran from 2012-2014, Ronald Lievens investigated the e-portfolio tool for
job seeking purposes. A theoretical contribution to the field, pending publication in 2014, introduced a new
paradigm where the tool is described in terms of its capabilities to induce transparency on the labour market, by
providing detailed information on a person’s competencies, which could be used to enhance the job matching
process. Due to the growing prevalence of job search via the internet, information about jobs and workers
can be widely spread, increasing the scope of search for both workers and firms at a lower cost. In theory,
this has a positive effect on match quality, raising the productivity level of a match, worker earnings, and firm
profits. Additional benefits include lower unemployment levels, reduced transaction costs of matching, and an
enhanced mobility of workers who can more easily engage in on-the-job search. These benefits are expected to
be achieved by the provision of richer market information through career e-portfolios.
To be published in 2014: Ronald Lievens (ReflecT, Tilburg University). (2014). “A Proposal: Mitigating Effects Of
The Economic Crisis With Career e-Portfolios.” The International Journal of ePortfolio.
Patrick Arni, Rafael Lalive & Jan van Ours, (2013). How effective are unemployment benefit sanctions? Looking
beyond unemployment exit. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 28 (7), 1153-1178.
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Research Themes
The four key topics within ReflecT’s Research Programme are:
1. Labour market dynamics: Preconditions, effects, and monitoring
These topics are researched at the various levels of European societies (including ‘old’ and ‘new’ member
states) and non-European societies (comparative perspective).
2. The impact of European integration on labour market dynamism and social cohesion
This part focuses on the need for ‘hard law’ versus ‘soft law’ measures, an optimal interplay between national
and European law, and specific mechanisms in establishing a balance between labour market flexibility and
security.
3. Optimal design of labour market and social security institutions
Subject of research is: employment protection legislation, unemployment insurance, collective bargaining,
employment or transition security (facilitating non-work-to-job transitions as well as job-to-job transitions), and
training systems.
4. Changes in the employment relationship and its design
This includes the notions of psychological contracts, human resource strategies and mutual risk management;
changing values and beliefs, solidarity, social contracts and social policies within more dynamic, flexible, and
secure labour markets and economies.
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Mission Statement
The mission of ReflecT is to perform high-quality multidisciplinary labour market and employment research,
aiming at a leading academic position at the European level and contributing to innovation and knowledge
valorisation.
The research area of the institute can be defined as: on the one hand the challenges and issues that arise from
the tendencies towards and pleas for increased flexibility, dynamism and efficiency of labour markets, employment relations and the work organisation and on the other hand the need for preserving or developing social
cohesion, participation and commitment in our societies, by means of social protection, security and a solidaristic social organisation.
Currently the debate on reconciling the economic and social dimension of society or, more specifically, labour
market flexibility and security and cohesion is explicitly being framed in terms of ‘flexicurity’ approaches and
policies. At the more micro-level of the individual organisation and the employment relationship, we encounter
the parallel tension between on the one hand added value, performance, productivity and on the other hand the
need for legitimacy and fairness.
The institute combines, in a productive and creative manner, legal, economic, sociological, and psychological
approaches, and, moreover, adopts a multi-level perspective, studying the interplay between various regulatory
and institutional levels in society: the European, international, national, sectoral, company, and individual level.
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Preface
Colophon
Managing director
Ton Wilthagen
Staff
Ron van Baden
Eleni Balamoti
Sonja Bekker
Irmgard Borghouts – van de Pas
Frank Cörvers
Ronald Dekker
Ioana van Deurzen
Mark Diebels
Chantal Dohmen
Joey van den Eijnden
Charissa Freese
Ingeborg van der Heide
Frank Hendrickx
Annet van Huijkelom – Frankena
Pascal Kamphuis
Jenny Krebbers
Ronald Lievens
Sylvie de Louw
Ruud Luijkx
Marc van der Meer
Ruud Muffels
Shirley Oomens
Wim van Oorschot
Jan van Ours
Jaap Paauwe
Ivana Palinkas
Roy Peijen
Matteo Picchio
René Schalk
Linda Senden
Daniela Skugor
Martijn van Velzen
Wendy Wesseling
Loreen Wilthagen
Nuna Zekic
Postal address:
ReflecT M611
PO Box 90153
5000 LE Tilburg
The Netherlands
Visiting address:
Montesquieu Building 6th Floor
Room M611
(entrance at Prof. Verbernelaan)
T: (+31)(0)13 466 21 81
E: reflect@tilburguniversity.edu
W: www.tilburguniversity.edu/reflect
@ReflecTTilburgU (EN)
@ReflecTUvT(NL)
Having started in 2009, ReflecT completed its first five year
programme in 2013. As the saying goes, time flies, especially
while you’re having fun with research, teaching and activities
of knowledge valorisation. It’s of course up to others to
comment on this, but we, as an institute, feel we have
established a good position in both the academic and policymaking world.
As observed in previous years, we could not imagine at the
start of ReflecT how even more relevant and urgent our
themes – labour market dynamism, flexibilisation, security,
social protection, HR policy and social cohesion – would
become in view of the financial, economic and social crisis
that is still going on and far from over.
This development stirred a lot of interest in our work and also
quite some appeal from the policy world, employers, trade
unions and the media on ReflecT staff to help them in making
an adequate analysis and think along with respect to possible
reactions and solutions.
We are now looking ahead to a next period and wish to thank
everyone that has supported and worked with us during the
past five years. Let’s continue to make it work.
Ton Wilthagen
Scientific Director of ReflecT
2012
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