Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken - Volume 25, Issue 3, 2009

Toen de redactie van het Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken ruim een jaar geleden begon met de voorbereidingen van dit jubileumnummer ter gelegenheid van 25 jaar TvA, leek er haast geen groter contrast denkbaar dan dat tussen de actuele arbeidsmarkt en die van een kwart eeuw geleden. In 1985 bereikte de werkloosheid in Nederland een naoorlogs hoogtepunt van 14% van de beroepsbevolking, terwijl er in 2008 sprake was van een krappe arbeidsmarkt met minder dan 4% werklozen. In 1985 leefde alom de verwachting dat volledige werkgelegenheid definitief uit beeld was verdwenen, terwijl in 2008 juist werd gewaarschuwd voor een dreigend tekort aan arbeidskrachten. Niet schaarste aan werk, maar schaarste aan personeel leek nu de belangrijkste uitdaging voor het sociaaleconomisch beleid.

TvA (the Dutch Journal of Labour Studies): trends in authors, themes and research approach over 25 years

This article presents the results of a content analysis of all volumes of TvA that have been published between 1985 and 2008. It attempts to uncover the trends in authors, themes and the research approach of 620 TvA papers and 908 TvA authors. The analysis is positioned against the background of a number of societal changes during the same period. It is concluded that the trends in TvA are sometimes related to macro trends in society and policy, but also emerge from the interests of the Dutch labour research community and the editorial board of TvA.

Sociology of work in the Netherlands 1984-2009: cumulation of knowledge and debate about its micro foundation

The article describes the development of the sociology of work in the Netherlands during the period 1984-2009 from three different perspectives. The first perspective focuses on the question how sociology of work as field of knowledge and as academic discipline has developed, and what have been the main determinants of that development. The second perspective is that of themes and hypotheses. Focussing on the themes of quality of jobs, flexibilization of the labour market and differences in the work of women and men, it is shown how debates developed and knowledge has grown during the past 25 years. The third perspective concerns the micro foundation of the sociology of work, which is the recurrent theme in debates about the discipline. The article concludes that the new challenges for the sociology of work are in research about the conditions of the contribution of work to human well-being.

The sociology of work in Flanders 1984-2009, and thereafter

This contribution provides an overview of major developments within the sociology of work as it has been practiced within the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium in the period 1984-2009. We highlight distinguishing themes and approaches in such research fields as the organization of labour, industrial relations and labour market dynamics.

Labour economics: same assumptions, different insights

In the past 25 years, the economic analysis of labour issues was dominated by the neoclassical theory, which starts from rational, utility maximizing subjects. Complemented with the human capital theory and institutional analysis, the neoclassical theory has proved to be a very flexible theory, capable of analysing a diversity of subjects, ranging from labour supply and life course patterns to wage formation, earnings distribution and unemployment. This yielded various new insights, in particular with respect to imperfect (asymmetrical) information and the role of institutions (e.g., labour market regulation, trade unions). Labour economics has had a profound influence on labour policies in the past quarter of a century. Future economic research of labour issues might benefit from incorporating sociological and socio-psychological perspectives.

In dit artikel wordt de arbeidsparticipatie in Nederland tussen 1970 en 2008 beschreven. Het betreft daarbij steeds de brutoarbeidsparticipatie. Dit is het aandeel van de werkzame en de werkloze beroepsbevolking in de totale bevolking van 15- tot 65-jarigen (potentiële beroepsbevolking). De arbeidsparticipatie wordt onderverdeeld naar geslacht, leeftijd, opleidingsniveau, herkomst en provincie. Voor de onderverdeling naar geslacht zijn gegevens beschikbaar vanaf 1970. Voor de andere kenmerken vanaf 1981.

Balance of 25 years of Work & Organizational Psychology: new themes and new methods, practical relevance under pressure

The aim of this article is – on the base of reviews and content analyses – to describe the developments in Work & Organizational Psychology during the last 25 years. Both the international as well as the national perspective will be considered. It is concluded that there were large differences between the US, the UK and continental European countries as far as priorities in research are concerned. In the Netherlands and Flanders three themes got most attention during the past ten years: (1) employee competencies, learning, and employability, (2) fair labour relations, psychological contracts, and job insecurity, and (3) work stress, fatigue, and burnout. Emerging research areas were job performance, productivity, and innovative behaviour, as well as mobbing, aggression and intimidation at the workplace. In these fields Dutch and Flemish authors played a substantive role. Research attention diminished for themes like employee participation, consultation, workplace democracy and organizational change. Meta-analyses and other more advanced techniques expanded enormously. On the other hand there were many scholars who strongly argued in favour of bridging the gap between academics and practitioners, to focus more on implementation and management of change, and to rely less on information of large companies only. The article concludes with presenting some research areas to help to narrow the academic-practice divide.

Ergens heb ik een doctoraalbul liggen waarop vermeld staat dat ik (in Tilburg) economie heb gestudeerd. Degenen die daarin verder zijn gegaan, zullen mij echter niet als econoom her- en erkennen. Mijn specialisatie was namelijk bedrijfseconomie (wat al suspect is), en mijn afstudeerrichting iets van organisatiekunde (dat is nog erger). Deze ziel doolde verder in wetenschapsland door met een promotieproject te beginnen. Dat begon als bedrijfseconoom, en werd formeel beëindigd als beleidswetenschapper (wat dat is, weet ik nog steeds niet). Dat was in Nijmegen, waar ik deel ging uitmaken van een club die iets van Bedrijfs- en bestuurskunde heette, maar al snel werd gesplitst in bedrijfs- en bestuurskunde. Mijn thuishaven werd de vakgroep?, sectie?, afdeling? Bedrijfskunde, later herdoopt tot bedrijfswetenschappen (ik geloof niet dat ik in Nijmegen langer dan drie jaar een zelfde visitekaartje heb gehouden; het is er een continue herverbouw). Eind december 2006 belandde ik dan op een leerstoeltje bij het departement Organisatiewetenschappen van de Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen van de Universiteit van Tilburg. Kortom: nu ik deel heb uitgemaakt van allerlei verschillende disciplines bevind ik me klaarblijkelijk in een goede uitgangspositie om te voldoen aan het verzoek van TvA om een, uiteraard volstrekt subjectieve, column over bedrijfskunde te schrijven.

Labour studies from a public administration perspective: unknown, unloved

This article addresses labour issues within public administration. Recent developments – especially the rise and relative decline of New Public Management – are described. Relevance for other disciplines is discussed, especially the critique within the discipline on the rational model is relevant here. In the second part of the article a content analysis of articles in volumes of TvA is presented. This shows that TvA is relevant for public administration and also the other way around. Nonetheless, only a few public administration scientists publish their work in the journal or read it. Clearly, the mutual relevance between the TvA journal and the public administration discipline can be improved upon.

25 years of labour studies in the Netherlands: developments, tensions and new challenges

By comparing developments in several disciplines a general picture of the state of the art of Dutch labour studies is presented. First, the specific contribution of each discipline (sociology of work, labour economics, work and organizational psychology and public administration) is described. Sociology studies the transformations on the labour market and within organizations and their unequal consequences for labour market success and quality of work of different groups of workers. Labour economics is characterized by the consequent application of the principle of utility maximization on a wide range of mainly labour market issues. Psychology highlights the 'inner world' of organizations in transition by studying stress and burnout, employability requirements, psychological contracts and so on. Public administration contributes to the study of labour policies by emphasizing the way implementation is being organized and studies management problems of public sector organizations. However, there is also a lot of overlap between these disciplines, which offer opportunities for multidisciplinary cooperation. Next, two sources of tensions are being discussed which characterize the field as a whole: the tension between a discipline-oriented and a more problem-oriented approach and the tension between theory and practice. It is concluded that both have increased during the last 25 years. Finally, a research agenda is presented, consisting of ten themes which have strategic value for the future of work, employment and industrial relations and ask for multidisciplinary cooperation.