IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/wzblpe/fsi97202.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Dutch employment miracle? A comparison of employment systems in the Netherlands and Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Schmid, Günther

Abstract

In the 1980s, the Netherlands had one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Community, Germany one of the lowest. Today, the reverse is true. Is there a Dutch employment miracle? If so, how can it be explained? This essay is an attempt to answer these questions in seven steps. Beginning with the development of an analytical framework within which employment systems are compared, the author measures the performance of the two labour markets and economies, paying particular attention to the role of labour market policy in the process of adapting to structural change. It is shown that the Netherlands has an interesting new configuration in which the advantages of competitive and coordinated capitalism are combined with a modernised form of the welfare state. A key shortcoming of both employment systems remains the hitherto highly passive character of employment redistribution. Transitional labour markets would be a more appropriate strategy for redistributing employment in order to link long-term social needs and economic efficiency. On the whole, however, developments in the Netherlands point much more clearly than those in Germany to a path along which the European model could move.

Suggested Citation

  • Schmid, Günther, 1997. "The Dutch employment miracle? A comparison of employment systems in the Netherlands and Germany," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment FS I 97-202, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzblpe:fsi97202
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/43917/1/231330243.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Garrett, Geoffrey & Lange, Peter, 1995. "Internationalization, institutions, and political change," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 627-655, October.
    2. Douglass C. North, 1991. "Institutions," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(1), pages 97-112, Winter.
    3. Calmfors, Lars & Skedinger, Per, 1995. "Does Active Labour-Market Policy Increase Employment? Theoretical Considerations and Some Empirical Evidence from Sweden," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 91-109, Spring.
    4. repec:hhs:iuiwop:429 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Günther Schmid & Jacqueline O’Reilly & Klaus Schömann (ed.), 1996. "International Handbook of Labour Market Policy and Evaluation," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 955.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Wilthagen, Ton, 1998. "Flexicurity: A new paradigm for labour market policy reform?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment FS I 98-202, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Bijwaard, Govert & Veenman, Justus, 2007. "Unequal Chances on the Transitional Labor Market: The Case of the Netherlands," IZA Discussion Papers 2908, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Muffels, Ruud & Wilthagen, Ton & Heuvel, Nick van den, 2002. "Labour Market Transitions and Employment Regimes: Evidence on the Flexibility-Security Nexus in Transitional Labour Markets," MPRA Paper 13301, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. repec:aia:aiaswp:wp67 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:aia:aiaswp:wp1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. O'Reilly, Jacqueline & Spee, Claudia, 1997. "Regulating work and welfare of the future: Towards a new gender contract?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment FS I 97-207, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Wielers, Rudi & Meer, Peter van der, 2002. "Lower educated workers and part-time work : the Netherlands, 1973-1991," Research Report 02A26, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    8. repec:aia:aiaswp:wp3 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. repec:dgr:rugsom:02a26 is not listed on IDEAS

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schmid, Günther, 1996. "Beschäftigungswunder Niederlande? Ein Vergleich der Beschäftigungssysteme in den Niederlanden und in Deutschland," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment FS I 96-206, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Schütz, Holger & Speckesser, Stefan & Schmid, Günther, 1998. "Benchmarking labour market performance and labour market policies: Theoretical foundations and applications," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Labor Market Policy and Employment FS I 98-205, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    3. Blench, Roger & Chapman, Robert & Slaymaker, Tom, 2003. "A Study of the Role of Livestock in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)," PPLPI Working Papers 23776, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Pro-Poor Livestock Policy Initiative.
    4. Chen, Ni-Yun & Liu, Chi-Chun, 2021. "The effect of repurchase regulations on actual share reacquisitions and cost of debt," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Abdelilah Hamdouch & Marc-Hubert Depret, 2005. "Carences institutionnelles et rationnement de l'accès à la santé dans les pays en développement : repères et enjeux," Mondes en développement, De Boeck Université, vol. 131(3), pages 11-28.
    6. Fu, Tong & Jian, Ze, 2020. "A developmental state: How to allocate electricity efficiently in a developing country," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    7. Carlo Altavilla & Floro E. Caroleo, 2006. "Evaluating the Dynamic Effects of Active Labour Policies in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 20(2), pages 349-382, June.
    8. Phillip LeBel, 2008. "Managing Risk in Africa Through Institutional Reform," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 36(2), pages 165-181, June.
    9. Johansson, Kerstin, 2006. "Do labor market flows affect labor-force participation?," Working Paper Series 2006:17, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    10. Tomasz Iwanow & Colin Kirkpatrick, 2007. "Trade facilitation, regulatory quality and export performance," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(6), pages 735-753.
    11. Joanna TYROWICZ & Piotr W�JCIK, 2009. "Some Remarks On The Effects Of Active Labour Market Policies In Post-Transition," Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, Spiru Haret University, Faculty of Financial Management and Accounting Craiova, vol. 4(2(8)_ Sum).
    12. Andrea Asoni, 2008. "Protection Of Property Rights And Growth As Political Equilibria," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 953-987, December.
    13. Banterle, Alessandro & Stranieri, Stefanella, 2008. "The consequences of voluntary traceability system for supply chain relationships. An application of transaction cost economics," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 560-569, December.
    14. Wiser, R. H., 2000. "The role of public policy in emerging green power markets: an analysis of marketer preferences," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 177-212, June.
    15. Suman Banerjee & Saul Estrin & Sarmistha Pal, 2022. "Corporate disclosure, compliance and consequences: evidence from Russia," The European Journal of Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(17), pages 1770-1802, November.
    16. Boyer, Robert, 1992. "La crise de la macroéconomie, une conséquence de la méconnaissance des institutions?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 68(1), pages 43-68, mars et j.
    17. Per-Anders Edin & Anders Forslund & Bertil Holmlund, 2000. "The Swedish Youth Labor Market in Boom and Depression," NBER Chapters, in: Youth Employment and Joblessness in Advanced Countries, pages 357-380, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Hujer, Reinhard & Zeiss, Christopher, 2006. "Macroeconomic Effects of Short-Term Training Measures on the Matching Process in Western Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 2489, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Rosta, Miklós, 2013. "New Public Management: opportunity for the Centre, thread for the Periphery," MPRA Paper 68474, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Zoran Stefanovic, Branislav Mitrovic, 2015. "Revisiting New Institutional Economics: Basic Concepts And Research Directions," Ekonomika, Journal for Economic Theory and Practice and Social Issues 2014-04, „Ekonomika“ Society of Economists, Niš (Serbia).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:zbw:wzblpe:fsi97202. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wzbbbde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.