Mens & Maatschappij - Volume 92, Issue 3, 2017

Reciprocal causal relationships between financial success, (in)formal social contact and generalized trust in the Netherlands: Findings from cross-lagged panel models

To keep functioning, society increasingly relies on generalized trust – that is, the belief that others in general will act in one’s interest. Theory states that life experiences, such as financial success and the formation of (in)formal social contact, can influence generalized trust through various processes. Likewise, trust is expected to influence financial success and social contact. This contribution uses panel data to go beyond the methodological limitations of former studies in order to provide better empirical evidence of the extent to which causal relationships exist between generalized trust and indicators of financial success and social contact and if they do exist, to what extent they are reciprocal. Using data from the Dutch NELLS panel study, two-wave cross-lagged panel models are estimated to disentangle causal relationships. Results show that for various indicators of financial success and formal social contacts, compelling empirical evidence is found for reciprocal causal relationships with generalized trust. Rather unexpectedly, informal social contacts seemed to decrease generalized trust, while the reverse causal pathway was absent.

In this article we examine the labor market outcome of different types of craftsmen. Do vocationally educated craftsmen have a smoother school-to-work transition than graduates with general skills? We analyze this question using Dutch Labor Force Surveys from 1996 to 2012. We find that craftsmen who have a very specialized educational degree are less likely to be unemployed at the start of their careers. However, those with a broader educational degree are more likely to find a job with a higher job status than graduates with a specialized degree. According to the literature, craftsmen with a specialized education are likely to have difficulties later in their career: their specific skills become obsolete while those with a broader education are likely to be able to be more mobile in the labor market. We find no support for this when we analyze unemployment. Craftsmen with a small education remain at least as likely to be employed as craftsmen with a broader education. However, for job status we find more support for this hypothesis. The gap in job status between craftsmen with a small and broad education widens over the life course.

The role of craftsmanship within the educational system and the labor market: A literature review and operationalization

Craftsmanship is a popular term, both in the academic literature as in the public debate. However, what craftsmanship means remains often unknown. In this literature review we examined how craftsmanship is and can be defined and how one can become a craftsman. A typology is derived, and later empirically established, in which three types of craftsmanship are defined, based on two job characteristics: the degree of complexity of job tasks and the degree of specialization a specialized craftsman who performs complex tasks, a broad craftsman who performs complex tasks, and a practical craftsman who is a specialist with relatively few complex tasks. Finally, several challenges of vocational education are described with respect to craftsmanship.

In deze nieuwe rubriek van Mens & Maatschappij, ‘In de etalage’, brengen we recent gepubliceerde Engelstalige sociaalwetenschappelijke artikelen extra onder de aandacht bij het Nederlandstalige publiek. In deze bijdragen beschrijven auteurs beknopt hun bevindingen en de belangrijke wetenschappelijke en/of maatschappelijke implicaties van hun onderzoek. Dit is een dienst van de auteurs aan collega-academici die het internationale artikel toevallig gemist hebben, maar ook aan beleidsmakers en professionals.