2011
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Preface
It is with pleasure that I present the third Annual Report of ReflecT, the Research Institute for Flexicurity, Labour
Market Dynamics and Social Cohesion at Tilburg University. After three years I feel it is safe to say that ReflecT
is well ‘on it’s way’ in following and realizing its mission. This observation was extensively supported by the
Mid-term Review that was conducted at ReflecT in May 2011 on behalf of the Central Board of Tilburg University.
Three evaluators, prof. Katherine Stone from UCLA School of Law, prof. Guenther Schmid, emeritus professor
of the Free University Berlin and dr. Ruud Vreeman, former Mayor of the City of Tilburg, scrutinized ReflecT’s organization, procedures and performance and came to a “four out of five” judgement. Subsequently, this positive
conclusion was shared by the Central Board and the Council of Tilburg University, expressing trust in ReflecT’s
future. Evidently, there is work to do, in many respects. The labour market situation of the European Union is
currently extremely worrisome and innovative labour market and job creation policies and urgently needed.
ReflecT will continue to do its very best, both in an academic and societal way, in doing its share.
Colophon
Managing director
Ton Wilthagen
Ton Wilthagen
Staff
Ron van Baden
Sonja Bekker
Wouter van Benthem
Irmgard Borghouts – van de Pas
Heejung Chung
Ronald Dekker
Mark Diebels
Chantal Dohmen
Ellen Finsveen
Charissa Freese
Nadine Gugelot
Frank Hendrickx
Hester Houwing
Annet van Huijkelom – Frankena
Marjolein Leene
Pascal Kamphuis
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Ruud Luijkx
Bart Meuleman
Ruud Muffels
Wim van Oorschot
Jan van Ours
Jaap Paauwe
Ivana Palinkas
Matteo Picchio
René Schalk
Linda Senden
Daniela Skugor
Frank Tros
Sander Tuit
Wim Vandeputte
Evert Verhulp
René Voogt
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
(Scientific Director) 4
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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: 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
organization.
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’ policies and
‘inclusive’ labour markets. 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, i.e. studying the interplay between various
regulatory and institutional levels in society: the European, international, national, sectoral, company, and
individual level.
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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 line of research focuses on the need for ‘hard law’ versus ‘soft law’ measures, economic and social
governance, an optimal interplay between national and European law, and specific mechanisms in establishing
a balance between labour market flexibility.
3. Optimal design of labour market and social security institutions
Here the research focus is on 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 sub theme 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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Publications
This section gives an overview of some 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.
In 2011, Ruud Muffels and Daniela Skugor completed a paper titled “The impact of values and institutions on the
retirement behaviour of the low and high skilled worker”, which is available via the SSRN (Social Science Research
Network) website. The article was presented on several occasions: during a ReflecT lunch seminar; during a two-day
seminar at the University of Amsterdam; during the “Dag van de Sociologie” at Ghent University (Belgium); and
during a three-day workshop at Vilnius University (Lithuania).
Publication list (brief selection)
• B
ekker,S.(2011).Flexicurity,ExplainingtheDevelopmentofaEuropeanConcept.IpskampDrukkers,
Nijmegen
• Borghouts-vandePas,I.&Wilthagen,T.(2011).Debetekenisvanflexicurityvoorjonggehandicapten.
• C
hung,H.&vanOorschot,W.(2011).Institutionsormarketpowers?Explainingemploymentinsecurityof
European individuals in (the beginning of) the financial crisis. Journal of European Social Policy. 21(4), 287-301.
• C
hung,H.&Thewissen,S.(2011).Fallingbackonoldhabits?AComparisonoftheSocialand
Unemployment Crisis Reactive Policies in Germany, the UK, and Sweden. Social Policy and Administration.
45(4), 354–370.
• C
hung,H.(2011).Work-FamilyConflictacross28EuropeanCountries:AMulti-levelApproach.InS.Drobnic
&A.Guillén(Eds.),Work-Life Balance in Europe. The role of job quality (42-68).
Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
• C
ockx,B.&Picchio,M.(2011).ScarringEffectsofRemainingUnemployedforLong-TermUnemployed
School-Leavers. ReflecT Research Paper 11/006.
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• D
ekker, R. (2011). De flexbalans: Een inventarisatie van de kosten en baten van flexibele arbeid. In P. de Beer
(Ed.), Flexibilisering: De balans opgemaakt, 57-88. Amsterdam: De Burcht, Wetenschappelijk Bureau voor de
Vakbeweging
• D
e Vos, A. & Freese, C. (2011). Sensemaking during organizational entry: Changes in newcomers’ information seeking and the relationship with psychological contract fulfilment. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84, 288-314.
“Market imperfections and firm-sponsored training”
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• M
uffels, R. and Wilthagen, T. (2011). Defining flexicurity indicators for the public sector in Europe. ReflecT
Research Paper 11/007.
• M
uffels, R. & Wilthagen, T. (2011). Flexwerk en werkzekerheid in tijden van crisis. Economisch Statistische
Berichten, 96(4602), 54-57.
• Muffels, R. & Wilthagen, T. (2011). Transitional labour markets and flexicurity: Employment strategies of
Korea, Japan, the US and Europe compared. ReflecT Working Paper.
• M
uffels, R., Wilthagen, T., & Dekker, R. (2011). Flexibiliteit en werkzekerheid: Diversiteit en dynamiek op de
Nederlandse arbeidsmarkt. In E. Sol & C. Nysten (Eds.), Wat is de zekerheid in flex en zeker?, 25-49. Amsterdam: Flex Work Research Centre.
(Matteo Picchio and Jan van Ours)
Using worker and firm data from Dutch manufacturing, this paper investigates how product market competition
and labour market imperfections affect firm-sponsored training. We find that product market competition does not
affect the firms’ training expenditures. Increasing competition, for instance due to increased international
integration and globalization, is not a threat to investments in on-the-job training. Instead, labour market imperfections influence firm-sponsored training. An increase in labour market flexibility significantly reduces the incentives
of firms to invest in training. The magnitude of this effect is nevertheless small.
• M
ussida, C. & Picchio, M. (2011). The Trend over Time of the Gender Wage Gap in Italy. ReflecT Research
Paper 11/005.
• P
icchio, M. & Mussida, C. (2011). Gender wage gap: A semi-parametric approach with sample selection correction. Labour Economics, 18(5), 564-578.
• P
icchio, M., & van Ours, J. (2011). Bedrijfsopleidingen en de arbeidsmarktpositie van werknemers. Economisch Statistische Berichten, 96(4619), 586-588.
The article was published in Labour Economics, 2011, pages 712-722.
Literature survey on the costs and benefits of flexible labour for the Scientific Institute for the Dutch
Labour Unions (De Burcht)
• F
reese, C., Schalk, R., & Croon, M. (2011). The impact of organizational changes on psychological contracts:
A longitudinal study. Personnel Review, 40(4), 404 – 422.
• K
roon, B. & Freese, C. (2011). HR practices as retention tool for specialized flex workers to a contract work
agency. Paper accepted for publication in International Journal of Manpower.
• M
uffels, R. & Skugor, D. (2011). The impact of values and institutions on the retirement behaviour of the low
and high skilled worker. ReflecT Research Paper 11/004.
Ronald Dekker was invited to do a literature survey on the (economic) costs and benefits of external numerical
flexibility on the labour market. Combined with a similar research project on psychological and sociological consequences of flexible labour by Martin Olsthoorn (University of Amsterdam), this resulted in the first publication
of the newly founded Scientific Institute for the Dutch Labour Unions (De Burcht). The book resulted in a lot of
media attention, including a number of newspaper articles. Results of the research were discussed at a debate in
De Burcht in Amsterdam, with participation of representatives from labour unions and the temporary work agency
sector, and played a major role in the discussions on labour market flexibility, both in the media and in politics.
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• P
icchio, M., & van Ours, J. (2011). Market imperfections and firm-sponsored training. Labour Economics,
18(5), 712-722.
• W
ilthagen, T., Muffels, R., & Chung, H. (2011). The state of affairs of flexicurity in industrial relations:
Assessing country performance using transition indicators.
• P
icchio, M., & van Ours, J. (2011). Retaining through Training: Even for Older Workers.
IZA Discussion Paper 5591.
• Z
ekic, N. (2011). Arbeidsrechtelijk normatief kader en ongelijkheidscompensatie. In W.G.M. Plessen, J. van
Drongelen, & F.H.R. Hendrickx (Eds.), Sociaal Recht: Tussen behoud en vernieuwing - Liber Amicorum
Prof. dr. Antoine Jacobs, 59-72. Zutphen: Uitgeverij Paris.
• v an Oorschot, W. & Chung, H. (2011). Feelings of Insecurity Among European Workers in the Context of
Flexicurity Policies and Socio-Economics Conditions. ReflecT Research Paper 11/001.
• V
andeputte, W. (2011). Willekeurig ontslag, het gedrag van de werkman en het verbod van kennelijk
onredelijk ontslag. Rechtskundig Weekblad, 41, 1734-1738.
• V
andeputte, W. (2011). Oud, ouder, out: opzegging van de arbeidsovereenkomst voor bedienden tegen de
pensioenleeftijd en het verbod op leeftijdsdiscriminatie. Rechtspraak Antwerpen Brussel Gent Cahiers, 3,
173-177.
• V
andeputte, W. (2011). Book review: Rigaux, M. & Rauws, W. (eds.). (2010). Actuele problemen van het
arbeids-recht 8. Actualia van het ontslagrecht, Antwerpen, Intersentia, 857. In: Rechtskundig Weekblad, 74,
1408-1409.
• Vandeputte, W. (2011). Algemeen rookverbod bijna een feit. De Juristenkrant 227, 4-5.
• V
andeputte, W., Vanachter, O. (sup.), Hendrickx, F. (cosup.) (2011). Ontslagrecht tussen arbeidsmarktdenken
en ontslagbescherming. Een onderzoek naar de modernisering van het ontslagrecht in België (dissertatie KU
Leuven).
• W
ilthagen, A.C.J.M. (2011). Sociaal recht in Tilburg: Lijnen en figuren. In W.G.M. Plessen, J. van Drongelen,
& F.H.R. Hendrickx (Eds.), Sociaal Recht: Tussen behoud en vernieuwing - Liber Amicorum Prof. dr. Antoine
Jacobs, 25-41. Zutphen: Uitgeverij Paris.
• W
ilthagen, T. & Muffels, R. (2011). Toenemende flexibiliteit in Nederland. Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken,
27(3), 368-372.
• Zekic, N. (2011). Ontslag in Nederland en België. Ars Aequi, 60(11), 897-904.
Nuna Zekic published an article on labour law as a normative framework for the ‘Liber Amicorum’ for professor
Antoine Jacobs of the department of Labour Law and Social Policy at Tilburg University. The Liber Amicorum was
published in April 2011. In addition she wrote an article that was published in the December issue of the Dutch law
journal ‘Ars Aequi”.
The paper “Flexible labour and innovation performance: evidence from longitudinal firm-level data” which is joint
work by Haibo Zhou (Groningen University), Ronald Dekker (ReflecT) and Alfred Kleinknecht (Delft University
of Technology) was published in Industrial and corporate change. Firms with high shares of workers on fixed-term
contracts tend to have higher sales of imitative new products but perform significantly worse on sales of innovative
new products (“first on the market”). High functional flexibility in “insider-outsider” labour markets enhances a
firm’s new product sales, as do training efforts and highly educated personnel. We find weak evidence that larger
and older firms have higher new product sales than do younger and smaller firms. Our findings should be food for
thought to economists making unqualified pleas for the deregulation of labour markets. 14
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Lunch Seminars, Conferences,
and Meetings
Expert Meeting at Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment
Irmgard Borghouts – van de Pas prepared and held an expert meeting with Dutch participant on 28 April 2011 at
the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment. Representatives of trade unions, employers, private
organisations, ministries, public employment service and scholars participated. The aim of this meeting was to
share knowledge, validate the lessons defined by the researcher, and to brainstorm about possible further steps
the Netherlands can take to enhance job-to-job transitions in the event of forced dismissals. Using advanced
technology, each attended organisation prioritized the presented lessons for the Netherlands. A network of
several laptops was established. The laptops were linked and connected to a server enabling each organisation
present to share his view via a laptop. Through pressing one button it was possible to provide an overview of
the results on a large screen. This overview per system feature was the starting point of prioritizing these
suggestions by the participants and was followed by a discussion.
Lunch Seminars 2011
The lunch seminars are meant as an informal way to exchange ideas and thoughts both within the ReflecT
group and with others. Topics vary over the broad range associated with the institute’s research. In 2011 we
had ReflecT lunch seminars on legal topics (Labour law and related disciplines: which way forward? by Frank
Hendrickx and Nuna Zekic (Tilburg University), and on Labour flexibility and product innovation at the firm level
(Zhou, University of Groningen and Robert Kok, Radboud University). In a more policy-oriented lunch
seminar we discussed the phenomenon of ‘payrolling’ with Klara Boonstra of the Dutch labour union, and Willem Plessen from the employers association for temp agency work. Furthermore one of the lunch seminars was
an extended one, giving the floor to junior researchers from ReflecT from the different scientific disciplines
(Ivana Palinkas (law), Daniela Skugor (sociology), and Sander Tuit (economics)). By covering this broad
range of topics from different academic and policy perspectives, we have again succeeded in addressing many
questions with regard to ‘flexicurity, labour market dynamics and social cohesion’ the central research area of
ReflecT.
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ReflecT’s René Voogt at Kenteq seminar ‘The Changing Labour Market’
Presentation Nuna Zekic at the ninth International Conference in Commemoration of Marco Biagi
On January 27, René Voogt was invited by Kenteq and Euroguidance to explain the present situation and
future developments on the Dutch labour market. The main problems addressed were the mismatches between
schools and business, highlighted by slides and film.
The conference was held in Modena, Italy, on March, 17th till March 19th, 2011. The theme of the conference
was “Europe 2020: Comparative Perspectives and Transnational Action. From Recession to Recovery in Labour
Markets, Industrial Relations and Human Resources Management”. The Marco Biagi Conference gives scholars
from many different countries with different legal traditions a chance to meet and discuss some of the
workplace problems their countries deal with. Among the scholars present were: Manfred Weiss, Alan Neal,
Janice Bellace, and Jacques Rojot. Nuna Zekic gave a presentation on the implementation of ‘employment
security’ in collective agreements.
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Special Events
PH.D. Defence Sonja Bekker
On 11-11-‘11 Sonja Bekker successfully defended her Ph.D. thesis on the development of the EU’s flexicurity
concept: one of the most intensively discussed labour market policies of the past years. Whilst flexicurity aims
at combining labour market flexibility and security, the concept has been disputed, even during its development
stages. How then can we explain that in the end many actors agreed on flexicurity?
Sonja Bekker defending her Ph.D.
Which preconditions explain its development and conclusion? To answer this question, Sonja Bekker held elite
interviews with key policy-makers and analysed over 500 documents of European Institutions that played a role
in shaping flexicurity. Following the congruence and the process-tracing methodologies, the study finds more
than 20 preconditions which explain the emergence of flexicurity, among which the involvement of a wide variety
of actors in the debate and the existence of a broad bargaining agenda, encompassing elements of flexibility as
well as elements referring to labour market security. Preconditions such as these may contribute to meeting the
two-fold challenge of having secure and flexible labour markets.
PH.D. Defence Wim Vandeputte
On 19-12-’11 Wim Vandeputte successfully defended his thesis titled ‘The law of dismissal between a labour
market perspective and employment protection. Towards a modernization of the law of dismissal in Belgium’.
Directly hereafter follows a short summary of the thesis.
Due to the outdated distinction between blue collar workers and white collar workers, thorough reconsideration
of the Belgian dismissal law is unavoidable. Socio-economic sciences have given birth to an integrated view on
labour market policy, in which employment protection legislation (EPL) plays a significant role.
Through socio-economic literature, socio-economic imperatives regarding EPL are identified and checked upon
compatibility with a legal fundamental rights approach. In a first step, reconciliation is to be established starting
from the normative values of human dignity and social justice. Subsequently, a fundamental right of protection
against dismissal is (re)constructed through a study of available international legal sources combined with a
comparative law approach. Finally, these fundamentals of a modern dismissal law arecompleted with an overview of possible ways to combine employment protection with a modern labour market policy.
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Foreign “best practices” will be very helpful in doing so.”
On the 8th of March 2012 the thesis will be published with the (Dutch) title: “Ontslagrecht en de arbeidsmarkt.
Naar een modernisering van het Belgische ontslagrecht”.
Inauguration of Frank Hendrickx as the Jean Monnet Chair in European Labour Law
On September the 2nd Professor Frank Hendrickx was inaugurated as Jean Monnet chair in European Labour
Law after an inaugural lecture and an accompanying seminar on the foundations in labour law. The topic of the
lecture read: “A Labour Law for the United States of Europe”
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René Voogt wins Tilburg University Valorisation Award 2011
On June 15th 2011 René Voogt was awarded the Valorisation Award 2011 of Tilburg University. He was awarded
the prize for carrying out the project ‘De Regio Werkt’ (The Region at Work). For this project, commissioned by
the Taskforce Regionale Arbeidsmarkt Midden Brabant, an assessment of the most important pressure points
for the region was made. Subsequently, solutions for the pressure points were designed and translated into ten
action points.
According to the jury, the project was very creative and it tackled a relevant problem in an innovative way.
The translation of academics into practice was well defined and elaborated. Furthermore, the project wasjudged
as a valuable contribution to policy-making for the optimization of regional labour markets. 22
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ReflecT in the Media
Throughout the year ReflecT’s researchers, next to doing research, often give interviews and opinions on
relevant topics regarding the Dutch and international labour markets, and other topics relating to employment
and social security. This involvement in the media ranges from television interviews to opinion articles in
newspapers and magazines.
University-wide, Ton Wilthagen was the 8th most cited contributor from Tilburg University, while Ronald Dekker
finished 25th. Looking only at the media contribution from Tilburg Law School, Wilthagen was the most cited
researcher and Dekker finished 10th.
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International Visits
Frank Tros was invited in the final conference ‘flexicurity practices in the time of economic crisis’, organized by
the Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini in Rome, Italy (June 16th 2011) which had to prepare a report for the European
Commission. Frank’s presentation was titled ‘Labour market and policy responses in the time of economic crisis
in the Netherlands in a flexicurity perspective’. He discussed with an international audience the temporary policy
measures of part-time unemployment and local Labour Mobility Centres and the ongoing practices of
temporary employment contracts among young workers in the Netherlands.
Further, in March 2011, Nuna Zekic (PhD researcher at Reflect) attended the Ninth International Conference in
Commemoration of Prof. Marco Biagi. The Conference was titled “Europe 2020: comparative perspectives and
transnational action”. It was held in Modena, Italy. The paper, which she presented at the Conference, will be
published in the Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations.
In addition, in May 2011, Nuna Zekic also attended the Seminar for young researchers on Labour and Social
Law, which took at Szeged University, Hungary. At this seminar she also gave a presentation on the possibilities
to regulate employment security in collective agreements.
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Various Activities
Brainport – Let’s Connect
For the project Let’s Connect, several firms, knowledge- and educational institutes from the province of Limburg
and the Brainportregion cooperate to stimulate the implementation of e-portfolios for workers within the local
businesses and thus improve the transparency of the labour market. The project is supported by the Dutch
Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture, and Innovation.
The goal of Let’s connect is to stimulate the use of e-portfolios in the regional labour markets. Partners in the
project will participate in a number of pilots. In these projects the partners will implement the use of
e-portfolios within their own organisation. During this, the partners will support each other with knowledge and
expertise. ReflecT supports and monitors this form of labour market innovation.
Work Experience Places
ReflecT is situated in the Simon Building at the Tilburg University Campus. As from the beginning of January
2010, together with the UWV Tilburg (the Public Employment Services), ReflecT started a work experience
location at the reception area of the building. The aim of this facility is to help unemployed people in acquiring
work experience and thus increase their chances of in the labour market. Since May 2011 the the availability of
work experience places was extended to the A building of Tilburg University. Some 11 persons are currently “at
work”.
Research Master
The LLM Research Master in Law at Tilburg University is a two-year, top quality Master’s degree programme
offered in cooperation with Leuven University (Belgium). The programme targets talented Bachelor’s students
with strong analytical skills and a great interest in law research. Students get access to outstanding professors
at two world-class universities from two different regions, as they’ll participate in courses in both Tilburg and
Leuven.
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An exceptionally broad curriculum is just one of the ways the Research master in Law offers talented young
researchers a superior academic learning environment. Another crucial aspect is the provision of faculty
guidance and peer support in writing an elaborate research proposal, being the basic material for an application
for a PhD or another kind of research position. Students have 100% freedom in selection of the topic,
supervisor and research group where they will work on your proposal.
The LLM Research Master in Law offers a great opportunity to contribute to the knowledge that solves societal
issues, by immersing its students in a specialized area of their choice and learning them how to conduct
first-rate independent and critical academic legal research in that area.
Although the emphasis in the program is on legal research, it also prepares for a career in legal practice. Around
60% of those who successfully completed the program have started a (Ph.D.) research career, 40% became
legal practitioner by finding employment at law firms and international organizations worldwide.
© REFLECT 2012
Editor: Wouter van Benthem
Design: Prismaprint