From undermining practice to important instrument. The rise of temporary agency work in the Netherlands since the 1960s

Abstract

The Netherlands have seen a remarkable rise in temporary agency work over the past few decades. Two types of explanations are often put forward for this development: macroeconomic and institutional. In this thesis a third theoretical framework is included: the Varieties of Capitalism framework. The argument will be that this framework provides the most important explanation for the remarkable rise of agency work in the Netherlands. This argument is made by conducting research that combines both quantitative and qualitative sources, and both a historical and a social science perspective. Because in the end, combining methods and perspectives will provide us with a better understanding of the phenomenon agency work.