The Best of Both Worlds: Analyzing Mixed Approaches to Labour Market Reintegration in the Netherlands

Abstract

A thorough investigation into municipal arrangements of labour market reintegration programs in the Netherlands. This paper focuses on the way that WWB recipients are being reintegrated in the labour market through an analysis of different levels of ‘public-private partnerships’ between local governments and private reintegration companies. The Netherlands’ decentralized welfare system allows municipalities to choose varying degrees of in-house and outsourced provisions of reintegration services. This paper argues that the decision to undertake this kind of public private partnership is based on the assessment of three main factors, namely, quality, price and accountability.