Decentral governments play an important role in the provision of public services and with the intended decentralizations of social policies they will acquire important additional tasks.

Program Decentral governments

The program carries out research on local public finance and the role of decentral governments in the provision of public services, with a particular focus on recent decentralizations in the social domain. Opportunities and risks of these decentralizations have been explored. Follow-up work has researched the interaction of youth care with the use of social services of young adults – which may offer opportunities for a more integrated approach. In the domain of local public finance, the program has published on fiscal decentralization and fiscal equalization. Public procurement of social services was another important theme. For instance, in 2017, a book on the market for assistance in daily housekeeping activities was published jointly with the Netherlands Institute for Social Research. The program also contributed to a book on regional economic dynamics. 

Key themes for the near future are the effectiveness of municipal policy instruments in the social domain, the integration of refugees and the future fiscal federalism in the Netherlands. 

Important publications:

• Background Document 'Decentralization of social policy in the Netherlands';
• Memo (in Dutch) 'Op eigen benen? Samenhang van jeugdzorg met het gebruik van WMO-zorg en inkomensondersteuning vanaf het achttiende levensjaar';
• Policy Brief (in Dutch): 'Een ruimer lokaal belastinggebied';
• Book (in Dutch): 'Een economische blik op verevening';
• Book (in Dutch): 'De markt voor huishoudelijke hulp';
• Article (in Dutch): 'Groei & Krimp, waar moeten we bouwen – en waar vooral niet?.

Most recent publications