Summaries
Economic attitudes of Flemish Workers. The
role of collective relative deprivation
This article analyzes the role of the concept 'collective relative deprivation' in explaining the association between the EGP en socio-eco nomic attitudes. Within the context of occupa tional research, strikingly little research fo cused on relative deprivation. With this contri bution we therefore want to fill in some theore tical, empirical and methodological lacunae. First, the concept of deprivation is theoretically founded within a social stratification context. Empirically and methodologically the gap is filled by developing a measurement instru ment, used to then validate the concept. This article furthermore shows, based on Flemish survey data, that collective deprivation contri butes significantly to the explanation of the link between a social class position and eco nomic attitudes. Deprivation, even after con trolling for relevant variables, still has a strong autonomous effect on economic attitudes. Analyses moreover show that relative depriva tion mediates for the effect of education, in come, job autonomy and social class position.
Keywords: social stratification, economic attitudes, relative deprivation
Policy of the elderly in the building
industry
As a result of the physical heavy work, many employees in the building industry leave the industry before reaching their age of retire ment. The consequence is that much knowl edge and experience go lost. This article de scribes to what extent actions are taken in or
der to longer preserve the older employee for the industry. In this research we used the data from the report 'De oudere werknemer in de bouw' ('The older employee in the building in dustry') from the Economical Institute for the Building Industry (EIB). Besides this we inter viewed human resource managers from several large building organisations in the Nether lands. The conclusion of this research is: not yet many measures are taken in the building industry to keep the older employees to the work. Education for other jobs and part-time work are to a limited extent offered, although the need for part-time work is present. On the other hand employers certainly pay attention to improvement of the working conditions. Ex tra attention for this is however necessary to prevent that the employees leave the industry (once and for all) because of the impact of too heavy work.
Keywords: older employee, building industry, ageing
Career breaks and part-time work: how
does integration take place in the case of a
deviant labour pattern?
In the debate about the future development of our employment society, there are many im portant questions to be answered. One of these concerns the significance of paid labour in terms of people's integration into society. Is a paid (full-time) job essential to the social in volvement and belonging of individuals? Are there adequate alternatives? What happens when policymakers create or stimulate rela tively new labour-market positions, such as leave schemes and part-time work? A qualita
Summaries
tive study was set up to gain further insight into this matter. 24 people on extended paid leave and 19 part-time workers were ques tioned in in-depth interviews. The interviews showed that the integration of people with a deviant labour pattern differs in various ways. More specifically, four major types of respon dents were identified: the re-arrangers, the de viants, the converts and the doubters. Each type appeared to be confronted with different opportunities and pitfalls.
Keywords: career breaks, part-time workers, social integration
Diagnosing the knowledge culture
The central question of the article is how the diagnosis of a knowledge culture can be con ceived. The article aims to contribute to the de velopment of a method for conceiving such a diagnosis. The answer to the central question, mainly based on a literature review, consists of four elements: an identification of cultural ele ments ordered in knowledge sharing terms, a specification of facets of knowledge sharing as cultural behavior, the specification of different types of relationships between culture and knowledge sharing and a sequence of diagno sis steps connecting the first three elements. The article presents the case study of the dis trict water board Rijn en IJssel in The Nether lands to illustrate the diagnostic framework and procedure.
Keywords: knowledge culture, knowledge sharing, knowledge management
Works council and good governance: an
institutional-economic perspective
The aim of this paper is to explain, with the aid of an institutional economic approach, why Dutch works councils may contribute to better corporate governance. To this end, a sketch will be given of the existing corporate structure, in which the particular Dutch two- tier system plays an important role. The article intends to show theoretically that works coun cils can fulfil an important economic func tion, by protecting the interests of the employ ees as well as those of the shareholders. Several agency problems may be solved. By giving the workers consultation and codetermination rights, this will reduce their dependence on unilateral decisions by the management and may stimulate them to be more cooperative, leading to greater productivity and less moni toring costs. By giving the workers information rights, the management becomes more disci plined as well.
Keywords: works council, principal-agent problems, transaction costs
