Research team

Expertise

Minimum income protection and poverty, especially in relation to labour market change and migration

Fixing the holes in Europe's social safety nets: understanding the nature and causes of minimum income inadequacy in the EU. 01/11/2023 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Despite considerable efforts to reduce social exclusion and economic hardship, poverty remains a persistent problem in Europe, representing a major policy conundrum for EU welfare states. Minimum Income Schemes (MIS) are in force in all EU Member States (MS) to provide a last safety net. Yet, their effectiveness in covering and adequately supporting the poor remains by and large disappointing, be it with considerable variation across countries. While social research has addressed the performance of MIS in the EU, major questions remain. Why are MIS incapable at reducing poverty? How does their accessibility differ across EU? Who is left uncovered? In this project, I will investigate the drivers of the insufficient and yet heterogeneous capacity of MIS in protecting the most vulnerable in Europe. Concretely, I will assess the coverage, adequacy, and take-up of MIS and explain how and why they differ across EU. The main objectives are: 1) to understand the role played by MIS in providing social safety nets inside the welfare set-up; 2) to innovate the methods used to identify MIS recipients; and 3) to discern who is left uncovered, and the reasons why. Addressing shortcomings in previous research, the project will enhance our comprehension of the mechanisms behind the MIS disappointing performances and it will provide policy-oriented insights to optimize the targeting of social safety nets and to improve the effectiveness of social protection.

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  • Research Project

The labour market disadvantage of citizens with a migration background: from measuring to explaining and remedying (LAMIE). 01/02/2023 - 30/04/2027

Abstract

Research has shown abundantly that persons with a migration background typically do less well in the labour market of their host country. Determining these disadvantages, as focussed on in previous research, is one thing, tackling them is another. In view of the developmentof adequate policy measures, it is crucial to get an insight in (i) factors that moderate the established immigrant-native gaps('moderators') and in (ii) the underlying mechanisms of these gaps ('mediators'). With this research proposal, we aim to investigate (i)and (ii) and thereby take the logical next step, both from an academic and from a societal point of view. More concretely, we will furtherexploit unique administrative data, recently linked thanks to federal agencies, to investigate theoretically established moderators of thelabour market disadvantage of first- and second-generation migrants. In addition, for the analysis of atypical employment as an entry gateto the labour market as a moderator of migrant labour market integration, we will analyse Labour Force Survey data enriched withlongitudinal register data from CBSS Datawarehouse LM&SP. With respect to investigating the mechanisms underlying the establishednative-immigrant gaps, we aim to synthesise all the theoretical stigma related to migrant workers mentioned in peer-reviewed literatureand investigate their empirical value jointly, by means of state-of-the-art vignette experiments aimed at looking into the minds ofparticipating HR specialists. Based on the insights from the earlier work packages, in a later work package a last experiment will beconducted to test fruitful interventions (e.g. volunteer work at a mainstream organisation to overcome the stigma of bad integration). Inaddition, a systematic literature review and an overarching policy paper will be realised.

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  • Research Project

A job offer you shouldn't refuse: towards a better understanding of financial work incentives and welfare-to-work transitions. 01/11/2021 - 31/10/2025

Abstract

Modern welfare states face a remarkable conundrum: despite the efforts aimed at activating the unemployed and making work pay, vacancies remain difficult to fill and joblessness perseveres. Even people facing strong financial incentives to work appear not to act upon them. The link between financial incentives and entry into work is clearly less strong than is assumed. Against this background, the fundamental question remains how accurate and valid these models are since they are still rooted in the traditional economist's notion that 'work must pay'. It may well be the case that the current financial incentives modelling is flawed and does not represent the reality of all benefit recipients. Concretely, this project will investigate welfare-to-work transitions with particular attention to low work intensity households at the fringes of the labour market. The main objective is 1) to expose the interactions between employment pathways, individual characteristics, family context, work history and the tax-benefit system; 2) to innovate the modelling of financial work incentives by introducing novel factors; and 3) to examine to what extent the (re-)modelled incentives are actually associated with transitions into work and out of poverty. This way, the research plan will allow us to 1) address important shortcomings in prior research, which is critical for enhancing our understanding of the mechanisms underlying disappointing labour market outcomes; and 2) optimise social policy.

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  • Research Project

Basic Income in Belgium: stress-testing basic income in the digital era (BABEL). 15/12/2019 - 31/12/2024

Abstract

The BABEL project aims to narrow the gap between claim and reality with regard to BI outcomes. The project has several objectives. First, it aims to investigate the actual labour supply effects of BI. To this end, a quasi-experimental approach is applied in which we use administrative records to estimate the labour supply effects of BI based on what gets closest to a real world basic income situation: the Belgian Win-for-Life lottery. Second, to gauge the potential outcomes of BI and its different policy versions a comprehensive microsimulation exercise is conducted to estimate the first-order income distributive and budgetary effects of a set of BI proposals and their effect on work incentives in Belgium. Third, by carrying out factorial vignette experiments, the project aims to gain deeper insight into public support for the implementation of a variety of basic income schemes in Belgium, and whether and to what extent public support of basic income schemes depends on the outcomes, financing and implementation details. Fourth, BABEL will pay due attention to the on-the-ground implementation and the technical and administrative feasibility of a selection of basic income policy proposals, and it will gauge to what extent political parties and social partners as gatekeepers in the Belgian welfare state are willing to support the implementation of these schemes. Finally, the project will present a blueprint of pathways for basic income policy proposals that (1) are likely to garner sufficient support by the general public and by social partners; (2) lead to better outcomes in terms of social protection and work incentives; and (3) can inspire feasible welfare reform in Belgium.

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  • Research Project

Antwerp Interdisciplinary Platform for Research into Inequality: In search of equality. A socioeconomic examination within a global and historical framework (AIPRIL). 03/07/2019 - 31/12/2025

Abstract

This consortium proposal addresses the diverging fortunes of the rich, the poor and those in between. Our aim is to advance our understanding of how socioeconomic inequalities are changing, what is driving such trends and what, if anything, can be done. An undertaking of such ambition and complexity warrants an approach that combines state-of-the-art research from several disciplines. To that end, the current Methusalem grantee, the Centre for Social Policy Herman Deleeck, is joining forces with the Centre for Urban History and the Institute for Development Studies in the Antwerp Interdisciplinary Platform for Research into Inequality (AIPRIL) to continue and expand its work on the topic of socioeconomic inequality, enlarging the temporal and geographical scope this topic requires. We propose a seven year research program that seeks to make methodological, theoretical, and empirical advances in this rapidly evolving research field, building on insights from economics, sociology, economic history and development studies. The research program contains four strategically selected research streams: 1) New data and tools for the measurement of inequality; 2) Curbing inequality; 3) Urbanisation and Inequality; and 4) Shocks and Inequality.

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  • Research Project

Preparing for the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union. 30/06/2022 - 31/12/2022

Abstract

In 2024 Belgium holds the presidency of the Council of European Union. Belgium has always played a pioneering role, including in the context of the respective EU Presidencies, in the development of a more social Europe, stressing the importance of developing joint instruments in the fight against poverty, exclusion, but also against social fraud in European mobility. But the road is still long. Social convergence is a long-term work, with external shocks like the corona crisis throwing a spanner in the works. There are numerous challenges ahead for Europe, as well as for individual member states. From this perspective, Belgium is preparing for the 2024 EU Belgian Presidency and will start in 2022 to define substantive priorities in social policy through a dialogue with stakeholders. This project offers scientific support for the preparation of this mission. With a multidisciplinary, inter-institutional, national as well as European team of experts in European social policy, we offer scientific support in preparing the social component of the Belgian EU presidency.

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  • Research Project

COVIVAT - study into the impact of COVID 19 lockdown and social policy measures on the household income distribution 01/09/2021 - 30/09/2022

Abstract

COVIVAT assesses the consequences of the COVID-19 social distancing measures on the incomes of Belgian individuals and households. The aim is to generate insights that can support policy makers in limiting the social consequences of the COVID-19 crisis, and that may feed into post-Corona social policy.

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  • Research Project

Analysis of the (evolution of the) social situation with regard to the social targets and priorities of the national reform programme and the national social report 01/02/2021 - 31/01/2022

Abstract

This project will add to the annual reports on the evolution of the social situation and social protection in Belgium, by extending the instruments used, using policy indicators for a more timely assessment, also with regard to the COVID crisis, placing the reports and their findings in the broader literature, and listing key challenges.

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  • Research Project

Study COVIVAT. 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2021

Abstract

The COVIVAT consortium is a collaboration between three research groups of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the Universiteit Antwerpen. The consortium aims to map the social consequences of the spread of the coronavirus on the incomes of Belgian families, and to generate scientific insights that can support the socio-economic policy to limit the social consequences of the corona crisis and help shape the post-corona policy.

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  • Research Project

FWO Sabbatical 2020-2021 (Prof. I. Marx). 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2021

Abstract

My research takes place in the nexus of labour, income and the welfare state, with a particular focus on socioeconomic inequality and minimum income protection in postindustrial societies. I have over the past few years secured research funding from Methusalem, FWO and Belspo, allowing for an ambitious research program, time allowing. My sabbatical leave should allow me to make significant progress, notably in the following areas. Research line 1: Work, income and poverty in postindustrial societies. In addition to journal articles I am working on a book on the future of minimum income protection, which I hope to finish during my sabbatical leave. Research line 2: Understanding inequality. This topic features prominently in my 7 year Methusalem grant. Goal: during my stay as an Advanced Research Collaborative at CUNY - a leading research center worldwide - I will develop and deepen the Methusalem research program and set up cooperation. I am also working on a FWO project on the impact of organised labour and civil society on inequality, jointly with Zach Parolin, at Columbia University. Goal: to finish the first part of the research program. Research line 3: Migration. An ongoing BELSPO research project looks at the labour-market trajectories of migrants. CUNY's Graduate Center and other New York institutions are home to some leading migration scholars. My goal is to enrich my understanding of current migration research and initiate further collaboration in this area. Research line 4: Wealth. This is a key topic of research at the Stone Center at CUNY. Core faculty Janet Gornick and Salvatore Morelli are contributing to a special journal issue I am editing. It is my goal to finalize this and to initiate further joint work.

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  • Research Project

BOF Sabbatical 2020-2021 - Ive Marx. 01/09/2020 - 31/08/2021

Abstract

My research takes place in the nexus of labour, income and the welfare state, with a particular focus on socioeconomic inequality and minimum income protection in postindustrial societies. I have over the past few years secured research funding from Methusalem, FWO and Belspo, allowing for an ambitious research program, time allowing. My sabbatical leave should allow me to make significant progress, notably in the following areas. Research line 1: Work, income and poverty in postindustrial societies. In addition to journal articles I am working on a book on the future of minimum income protection, which I hope to finish during my sabbatical leave. Research line 2: Understanding inequality. This topic features prominently in my 7 year Methusalem grant. Goal: during my stay as an Advanced Research Collaborative at CUNY - a leading research center worldwide - I will develop and deepen the Methusalem research program and set up cooperation. I am also working on a FWO project on the impact of organised labour and civil society on inequality, jointly with Zach Parolin, at Columbia University. Goal: to finish the first part of the research program. Research line 3: Migration. An ongoing BELSPO research project looks at the labour-market trajectories of migrants. CUNY's Graduate Center and other New York institutions are home to some leading migration scholars. My goal is to enrich my understanding of current migration research and initiate further collaboration in this area. Research line 4: Wealth. This is a key topic of research at the Stone Center at CUNY. Core faculty Janet Gornick and Salvatore Morelli are contributing to a special journal issue I am editing. It is my goal to finalize this and to initiate further joint work.

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  • Research Project

Minimizing the social impact of a COVID-19 exit strategy: short-term and medium-term estimations and scenario's. 01/06/2020 - 31/05/2021

Abstract

In this project we generate immediate data to monitor the impact of different exit strategies on incomes and poverty. Although the macroeconomic impact of the lockdown measures on the Belgian economy is unprecedented, there is currently no data available to assess the social consequences of the lockdown or to estimate the impact of COVID-19 policies on incomes and poverty. This severely affects legislators' capacity to put effective measures in place. We use advanced microsimulation modelling and forecasting techniques, in the short-term, (1) to document the impact of the COVID-19 economic shock on incomes and poverty; (2) to assess the effectiveness of policies implemented to reduce the loss of incomes during the initial spread of infections; and (3) to support an evidence-based COVID-19 exit strategy by estimating the poverty impact of various scenarios. Our forecasts will support legislators in designing social and economic support measures that adequately target the most vulnerable individuals and households. In the medium-term, we (1) integrate macro-economic scenario's on economic recovery and sectoral unemployment to produce long-term forecasts of the consequences on household incomes and poverty under a variety of growth and employment scenarios; and (2) we calibrate our models with administrative data sources so that future policy responses to expected rebounds in the number of infections in the months and years to come can be monitored using timely data.

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  • Research Project

Civil Society, Organised Labour & Social Inequality in Advanced Democracies. 01/01/2020 - 31/12/2023

Abstract

The cohesiveness of civil society has long been central to explanations of cross-national differences in poverty and income inequality. Workers' unions, in particular, have been at the core of theories relating to class-based political struggle. Similarly, civil engagement and community-based social partnerships have been cast as potential mechanisms for fostering solidarity. Decades of empirical evidence support these claims. In recent years, however, research has called into question the sustained ability of organised labour and civil society as a bulwark against rising poverty and inequality. Union membership has declined across many advanced economies in recent decades. Likewise, civil engagement across many advanced democracies has waned in recent decades. Despite these observations, few scholars have empirically investigated the changing role of organised labour and civil society in shaping social inequality in the 21st century. None has done so in a cross-national, empirically-driven investigation that accounts for both the internal threats to social cohesiveness, such as shifting composition of the population or diversifying ideologies, and the external threats to social cohesiveness, such as the structural effects of economic change. Thus, this research project proposes to investigate changes in social inequality through the lenses of two mechanisms likely to contribute to it: the shifting the role of organised labour and civil engagement in advanced democracies.

Researcher(s)

  • Promoter: Marx Ive
  • Co-promoter: Parolin Zachary

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  • Research Project

A set of indicators to measure contextual factors and policy impact with regard to poverty in Flanders (Flemish indicator set poverty) 15/09/2019 - 14/03/2021

Abstract

VISA aims to develop a set of valid and robust policy input and outcome indicators to measure the impact of policy on poverty and social exclusion in Flanders. We will make recommendations regarding the data and policy models needed to further maintain and develop the VISA indicators in the future.

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  • Research Project

A safety net that holds. Institutional determinants of adequate poverty relief. 01/01/2017 - 31/12/2020

Abstract

Minimum income provisions (MIP) make up our ultimate safety net against extreme financial hardship and poverty. Social safety net provisions in Europe come in many shapes and forms. Their generosity levels differ quite considerably, as do entitlement requirements and behavioral conditions for continued receipt. Yet scholarly research has so far found it very difficult to link such differences, as they exist on paper, to observed poverty outcomes. We know surprisingly little about their actual effectiveness in alleviating poverty. Building on a new analytical approach, this project aims to establish which institutional characteristics, and constellations thereof, matter most for effective poverty relief. To that purpose we will use for the first time a cutting-edge add-on to the EUROMOD microsimulation model that will allow us to link in a far more accurate and sophisticated way defining features of MIP schemes to observed outcomes. Prior to that we will develop a conceptual framework that sets out in a systematic and rigorous way which institutional characteristics of MIP schemes matter for poverty outcomes and how. With this project we hope to advance not only our theoretical and empirical insight of how social safety nets actually matter for effective poverty relief but we also hope to come up with guidelines that can serve to build more performant provisions.

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  • Research Project

Basic Income: Fact and Fiction 01/01/2017 - 30/09/2017

Abstract

This report looks at the scientic evidence regarding the alleged pros and cons of a basic income in the Netherlands. In addition we perform microsimulation analysis the aim of which is to explore the potential first-order effects of three different budget neutral Basic Income schemes on poverty and inequality in the Netherlands. To do so, we build on the work of Browne and Immervoll who have recently performed a similar exercise for four European countries. We use the European tax-benefit microsimulation model EUROMOD in combination with micro-data from EU-SILC to estimate the potential outcomes of our Basic Income reform. Our analysis shows that the number of winners and losers is almost equal in all scenarios. While winners are mainly found among those individuals that have a strong economic position (e.g. students and employed), losers are mostly concentrated among vulnerable groups on the labour market such as the unemployed. Overall poverty and inequality levels would increase because financial resources are redistributed equally among the population, which is mainly beneficial for richer households. As such, it remains doubtful whether a Basic Income is the most efficient way in addressing poverty and inequality.

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  • Research Project

Improving the Labour Market Position of People with a Migration Background in Belgium (IMMIGBEL). 15/12/2016 - 30/06/2022

Abstract

Context Belgium has become an immigrant society. First generation migrants account for more than 15 percent of the Belgian work force and for over 50 percent of labour force growth. However, nowhere in the EU15 is the employment rate gap between migrants and natives as large. First generation migrants' poverty rates are of the worst in the EU15. Even though we know that the employment rate of people with a migration background is lagging, we know less about the causes behind it, a lacuna that IMMILAB aims to fill. Research on the position of people with a migration background in Belgium is based almost exclusively on cross-sectional data. This project aims to use longitudinal data, spanning up to 18 years, to examine the labour market trajectories of immigrants at the individual, household and firm level. Linking rich administrative datasets and surveys, we aim to get a thorough understanding of the complex dynamics of the socioeconomic trajectories of people with a migration background. With sophisticated longitudinal analyses we hope to break new grounds in how migrants fare. We will also pay particular attention to an underexplored subgroup of migrants: posted workers, of which there are many in Belgium. Individual level At the migrant's individual level we aim to enhance our understanding of the employment trajectories of people with a migration background from an individual perspective. The pathways that first generation migrants follow reflect the interplay of opportunities and barriers during their entire period of residence and first generation migrants' own strategic responses. Availing of a linkage of rich administrative datasets and surveys existing in Belgium, we use large scale longitudinal data to map labour market trajectories of people with a migration background. Our contribution lies in the fact that we will analyse, at a considerable level of detail and within a comparatively extended longitudinal scope (consecutive quarters over a 18 year longitudinal time span), the role of determinants such as origin, migration history, gender, age, household characteristics, on the labour market trajectories of people with a migration background. Household level At the household level we study labour force trajectories in relation to family formation with particular attention to the uptake of work-family policies. We use longitudinal microdata from the Belgian National Register and the Crossroads Bank for Social Security to document trajectories of labour force participation and the uptake of work-family policy among migrant and native parents between 2000 and 2014. In addition, we assess to which degree migrant-native differentials can be explained by pre-birth differentials in employment opportunities and income positions. Besides the availability of unique microdata, Belgium provides an interesting case as the country is a forerunner in the development of work-family policies such as formal childcare and subsidized outsourcing of domestic labour, but also exhibits the largest native-migrant differentials in the labour market. Firm level Finally, our project analyses labour market performance through the lens of the Belgian firms in which immigrants find work in this country. The objective of the ULB/MONS work package is to use longitudinal panel data of Belgian firms and their employees to shed light on various aspects related to the presence of immigrants in Belgian firms that have so far not been studied, namely: 1) the role of product market competition for wage discrimination against immigrants; 2) the incidence and determinants of over-education among immigrants; 3) the effects of educational and skills mismatch on the wages for native and immigrant workers; 4) the consequences of over-education in terms of productivity, wages and profits according to the origin of workers; 5) the policy implications of the collected evidence on all of these issues.

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  • Research Project

In-work Poverty and Shifts in Work, Income, and the Composition of Households (IPSWICH). 15/12/2015 - 15/03/2018

Abstract

The IPSWICH project seeks to understand how institutional and policy factors, in relation to underlying labour market and household dynamics, generate in-work poverty in Belgium. It takes into account the relation between in-work and jobless poverty, and examines which policy reforms can contribute to reduce present poverty and prevent further increases. Key factors in the analyses are wages, working hours and contracts, household work intensity, social protection, productivity, discrimination, and wage bargaining power.

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  • Research Project

When do exogenous shocks trigger institutional change: minimum income protection in times of crisis. 01/10/2014 - 30/09/2016

Abstract

This project seeks to expand our knowledge on these first round crisis measures, and to assess their possible impact on subsequent policy measures and welfare state change. The project takes advantage of the research opportunity offered by the 2008 crisis.

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  • Research Project

Measuring and mobilizing wealth for a cohesive, inclusive and fair society (CRESUS). 01/10/2013 - 31/12/2019

Abstract

The project aims to make relevant contributions at broadly two (intersecting) levels. On the one hand the network aims to contribute to a better informed public debate and policy making process on current policy issues, including the fight against poverty and social inclusion, efficient and equitable taxation, sustainable pensions and health care, labour market access and employability. On the other hand the network aims to make significant scientific contributions at an international level on the joint distribution of income and wealth, especially among the poor and the elderly, the integration of assets and wealth in the measurement of poverty and social exclusion, the incorporation of as sets and wealth in the design of social policy and the optimal taxation of wealth.

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  • Research Project

The access of migrants to social security, including health care: policy and practice. 01/10/2013 - 31/12/2013

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Federal Public Service. UA provides the Federal Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Joint patterns of income and wealth inequality, causes and consequences. 26/04/2013 - 30/06/2014

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand NBB . UA provides NBB research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

How to achieve a better marriage between employment growth and poverty reduction. 01/01/2013 - 30/06/2013

Abstract

The project will address the issue of how te achieve a better mariage between employment growth and poverty reduction, one of the core issues of the Europe 2020 agenda. The particular focus will be on policies that can help to ensure that transitions from non-work to work, or for that matter from low work intensity to high work intensity also ensure a live free from poverty.

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  • Research Project

The labor market research as a tool and basis for future labor migration policy and EU FTAs. 20/12/2012 - 30/11/2013

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Flemish Public Service. UA provides the Flemish Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Labour market outcomes of second-generation immigrants in Belgium. 01/10/2012 - 31/12/2014

Abstract

In this research project we want to analyse the labour market performance of second-generation migrants using a combination of survey and administrative data. We also want to identify the determinants of these outcomes in Belgium, which will also provide helpful insights for policy makers in this domain.

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  • Research Project

When do exogenous shocks trigger institutional change: minimum income protection in times of crisis. 01/10/2012 - 30/09/2014

Abstract

This project seeks to expand our knowledge on these first round crisis measures, and to assess their possible impact on subsequent policy measures and welfare state change. The project takes advantage of the research opportunity offered by the 2008 crisis.

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  • Research Project

Employment and poverty in a changing society (EMPOV). 15/02/2012 - 30/09/2016

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Federal Public Service. UA provides the Federal Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Country information on the implementation of active inclusion strategies. 15/10/2011 - 25/10/2011

Abstract

This project represents a formal service agreement between UA and on the other hand EC. UA provides EC research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Is there a trade-off between providing adequate income protection and promoting selfsufficiency in social assistance schemes? On the optimal mix of empowerment, conditonality and sanctioning. 01/10/2011 - 30/09/2012

Abstract

This doctoral research aims to gain insight in the optimal policy mix of conditional measures and enabling policies (directed towards social assistance recipients) in order to promote the transition of social assistance to employment, while ensuring a decent level of protection. By doing so, it will contribute to answering the question of why some countries succeed in combining high minimum income protection levels with high levels of outflow from social assistance dependency and why Belgium is not among them. In other words, the central aim is to find out the role of conditionality in bringing social assistance recipients to work and enabling the social assistance scheme to provide adequate benefits.

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  • Research Project

Flexibility and accountability in local labour market policies: Flemish national expertise for the OECD/LEED review. 01/11/2010 - 15/03/2011

Abstract

This project represents a formal service agreement between UA and on the other hand OECD. UA acts as country expert for an OECD review within the LEED (Local Economic and Employment Development) programme. The study assess how to combine both local flexibility in policy with accountability for central targets.

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  • Research Project

Preparation of the "Staten-Generaal Inburgering en Integratie 2010": Organisation and reporting of the working group "Work". 01/09/2010 - 31/12/2010

Abstract

Organization of the working group 'Work' and develop a discussion draft of the major challenges within the theme 'Work'.

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  • Research Project

Welfare, income distribution and poverty in Flanders in an international perspective. 19/08/2010 - 30/06/2011

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Flemish Public Service. UA provides the Flemish Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Addressing the shortage on the Belgian Labour Market through migration. 04/05/2010 - 15/07/2010

Abstract

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  • Promoter: Mussche Ninke
  • Co-promoter: Corluy Vincent
  • Co-promoter: De Maesschalck Veerle
  • Co-promoter: Marx Ive

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  • Research Project

Growing Inequalities Impacts (GINI). 01/02/2010 - 31/07/2013

Abstract

Strategic objective: A major improvement in the understanding of changing inequalities and their impacts in the various countries of the European Union in comparison to other developed countries, including a longer-term perspective and with due attention paid to the impact on society as a whole

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  • Research Project

Labour market position and mobility of migrants, and its impact on the welfare state. 01/01/2010 - 31/12/2013

Abstract

The research question has two main parts: 1) What are the determinants of the gap between immigrants and natives in terms of their labour market position and mobility chances? 2) To what extent can immigration contribute to the financial sustainability of social security in general and for Belgium in particular, given the labour market position and trajectories of immigrants?

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  • Research Project

CONVERGE - European welfare states are converging towards a single European social model? 01/11/2009 - 31/12/2012

Abstract

This project represents a formal research agreement between UA and on the other hand the Federal Public Service. UA provides the Federal Public Service research results mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions as stipulated in this contract.

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  • Research Project

Analysis, conclusions and recommendations of the CSB-study/VIONA-research 'Inactiviteitsvallen voor personen met een handicap of langdurige gezondheidsproblemen - 2009' to translate and refine the Mental Health sector. 08/09/2009 - 30/09/2009

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  • Research Project

Evaluation Project European Employment Strategy. Study unemployment and income. 03/03/2009 - 31/12/2009

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  • Research Project

Working poor in Flanders: a forgotten group? 01/07/2008 - 15/05/2009

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  • Research Project

Inactivity falls for persons with a handicap or with long-term health problems. 01/07/2008 - 15/05/2009

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  • Research Project

Economic and social profile of people who stay illegitimate, before and after the regularization operation established by the law of 22 December 1999. 01/03/2007 - 30/11/2007

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  • Research Project

Open borders for a sustainable welfare state? An investigation into the interaction effects between migration and the welfare state. 01/07/2006 - 31/12/2010

Abstract

The central research question is: to what extent do migrants contribute to the financial sustainability of the social security system and to the economic capacity of the welfare state in general, with a focus on Belgium? To what extent can migration offer a solution to the economic and fiscal challenges produced by an ageing society? We tackle this issue using intergenerational calculations, by drawing up a socio-economic profile of migrants and by estimating their welfare dependency and contribution to the social security system.

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  • Research Project

Construction of time series on employment, income distribution, socio demographic profile, consumption, social spending and funding in selected European countries 27/10/2005 - 31/12/2005

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  • Research Project

Economic change, quality of life and social cohesion. (EQUALSOC) 01/09/2005 - 31/12/2010

Abstract

Equalsoc is a network of excellence funded by the European Commission under the 6th Framework Programme. The network consists of 13 European research centres which the Commission deems to have attained exceptional level of academic expertise in the field of social inequality and cohesion. The network intends to encourage comparative research in such areas as employment and the labour market, income distribution and mobility, education and social mobility, the family and social networks, cultural differentiation and social capital.

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  • Research Project

Social federalism in Belgium and in Europe. 01/01/2005 - 31/12/2007

Abstract

This research project deals with the question of what is the most optimal level at which to organise social redistribution through social security and taxation, in Belgium, in other federal States and in Europe. This issue will be approached empirically, by studying the functioning, the determinants and the outcomes (in terms of social adequacy) of social redistribution between territorial entities. From a distributional perspective, we shall try to determine the optimum level at which to organise income redistribution and explore possibilities for allowing separate redistributive entities to work together.

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  • Research Project

The Insecure Perspectives of the Low Skilled in the Knowledge Society (LoWER3). 01/07/2004 - 30/04/2008

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  • Research Project

State of the art report: the internationalization of the labour market. 15/12/2001 - 15/05/2002

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    • Research Project

    State of the art: subsidizing low skilled labour 01/12/1999 - 30/06/2000

    Abstract

    This report for the Flemish Regional Government aims to reviw the empirical evaluation titerature pertaining to programs to subsidize low skilled labour.

    Researcher(s)

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      Project type(s)

      • Research Project

      The New Social Question. Compilation of a Documentation File 01/07/1996 - 30/09/1996

      Abstract

      The purpose is to compile a file on the new social question and possible ways to resolve it. This will be achieved within the framework of the 'Toekomstzorg' or future care programme and, more in particular, on behalf of the 'Millennium Conferences 1996'. The 'new social question' refers to the dual problem of the structural exclusion of unskilled people from the job market and poverty which is an immediate consequence of this.

      Researcher(s)

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        Project type(s)

        • Research Project