Understanding the development of temporary agency work in Europe

This article develops an explanatory framework for understanding the growth and development of temporary agency work (TAW) and the related industry. The analysis shows that explanations based on economic logic are helpful in understanding the choice of TAW in general. These explanations, however, fall short when trying to explain the growth of agency work over time or the variation in its use among European countries. To cope with these shortcomings, we extend our explanatory base to include a variety of sociocultural dynamics. Our analysis shows how deep‐seated national work‐related values (‘deep embeddedness’) affect the way TAW is regulated nationally. It also demonstrates how differences in more changeable norms, attitudes and practices (‘dynamic embeddedness’) affect the process of embedding agency work as a societally acceptable phenomenon, providing a basis for its subsequent proliferation.     

Semi‐parametric Modelling of Investments in Heating Installations: The Case of the Dutch Glasshouse Industry

This paper applies a semi‐parametric approach to estimating a generalised model of investments in heating installations. The results suggest that marginal costs of investments in heating installations increase quickly at small investment levels, whereas the increase slows down at higher investment levels. Therefore, standard parametric adjustment cost models are probably biased such that they underestimate the costs of small investments and overestimate the costs of large investments. Results also show that investments in heating installations are very responsive to changes in energy prices. Therefore, an energy tax may be an effective instrument to encourage investments in new energy‐saving heating installations.     

The relationship between financing criteria and the success factors of entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises

Existing criteria for, and methods of, evaluation discriminate against owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who do not have adequate securities and collateral available. These criteria and methods do not identify potentially successful owners of SMEs, only potentially successful enterprises. Financing criteria have to be adapted to empower potentially successful SMEs and to ensure economic development. The aim of the study is to develop relevant criteria for the financing of SMEs. The success factors of SMEs, as well as the criteria used by financiers of SMEs, were examined. This made it possible to determine what contributes to the success of SMEs and how these enterprises are being evaluated by financial institutions. Research articles were used for a literature review of the success factors identified. The results were used to formulate additional and alternative recommendations for criteria that can be used by financial institutions for evaluating financial applications.     

Measuring the placement effects of two wage-subsidy schemes for the long-term unemployed

A detailed evaluation is given of two dutch wage subsidy schemes. Aspects covered are: deadweight, displacement, effects an employment and continuity of labour-force participation. Both aggregate data (time-series and cross-section data) and individual survey data have been used to estimate the various effects.     

Dutch Economists Top 40

There is a tradition in the Netherlands to publish an annual ranking of economic and business researchers working in Dutch universities. The most recent such ranking, published in 2013, emphasizes research quantity over research quality. We propose an alternative ranking based on quality. Important information about a researcher’s quality and impact is lost when moulding it to fit a template of numbers. Our ranking is no exception. Nevertheless, we argue and demonstrate that our ranking fits international consensus on research prominence and that the 2013 ranking does not.     

Managing human resources across cultures: a comparative analysis of practices in industrial enterprises in China and The Netherlands

Abstract Although researchers and practitioners have come up with many good ideas for improving the employment relationship, there is no evidence for universally applicable practices. Prior theoretical work and research in the area of (international) human resource management indicate that cultural and contextual constraints are responsible for the problematic nature of transference of practices. This study illustrates and explains the contextual as well as cultural boundaries through a direct comparison of practices as used in a matched sample of industrial companies in China (n=97) and The Netherlands (n=47). It is argued that differences in organizational structure, cultural values and labour regulations account for the variation between countries. The results show considerable differences between China and The Netherlands in the HRM practices of industrial enterprises. Also, the organizational culture of the companies studied varies between the two countries and the differences found are clearly in line with differences on the national cultural level.     

Spatial Spillovers on Input‐specific Inefficiency of Dutch Arable Farms

Traditional benchmarking implicitly assumes that decision making units operate in isolation from their peers. For arable production systems in particular, this assumption is unlikely to hold in reality. This paper quantifies spatial spillovers on input‐specific inefficiency using data envelopment analysis and a second‐stage bootstrap truncated regression model. The bootstrap algorithm is extended to allow for the estimation of the parameter of the spatial weight matrix, which captures the proximity between producers. The empirical application concerns Dutch arable farms for which latitudes and longitudes are available. The average inefficiency across years was 3.87% for productive inputs and 2.98% for damage abatement inputs under variable returns to scale. For productive inputs technical inefficiency, statistically significant spillover effects from neighbours’ age and their degree of specialisation depended on the type of the spatial weight matrix used (inverse distance or k‐nearest neighbours). Statistically significant spillover effects of subsidy payments were adverse while statistically significant spillover effects from insurance payments were beneficial. For damage abatement inputs technical inefficiency, statistically significant adverse effects were found for neighbours’ age and subsidy payments and beneficial effects from neighbours’ insurance payments and their degree of specialisation.