Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WYLM (Where You Live Matters?)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-09-01 bis 2023-08-31
The last fifty years decentralization has been on the rise in many developed countries. Across the entire public sector, more and more responsibilities are transferred to local governments with the idea that this will lead to higher efficiency and improved outcomes. However, with decentralization also comes the risk that variation in local governance may cause growing divides depending on where you live. Widening inequality may not only be undesired from a normative perspective, it may also undermine societal cohesion and slow down economic development. Hence, to improve our understanding on the extent to which local public governance contributes to societal inequality, this project investigates the role of local governmental policies in shaping life outcomes of vulnerable groups in society.
In particular, the project looks at two distinct settings in the Netherlands where local governmental policies have the potential to significantly influence disadvantaged individuals’ life. The first subproject explores how municipalities’ decision whether to open a refugee center impacts public and political responses towards refugees. The second subproject analyzes the consequences of decentralizing youth care responsibilities from the government to the municipalities for informal caregivers of children with a disability. The broad conclusion that followed from these subprojects is that there are important regional differences in the local environment faced by refugees and informal caregivers, which are likely impacting the life outcomes of these groups.
In particular, the project looks at two distinct settings in the Netherlands where local governmental policies have the potential to significantly influence disadvantaged individuals’ life. The first subproject explores how municipalities’ decision whether to open a refugee center impacts public and political responses towards refugees. The second subproject analyzes the consequences of decentralizing youth care responsibilities from the government to the municipalities for informal caregivers of children with a disability. The broad conclusion that followed from these subprojects is that there are important regional differences in the local environment faced by refugees and informal caregivers, which are likely impacting the life outcomes of these groups.
To start the project of, the most up-to-date literature was reviewed and the contribution of the two subprojects with respect to the existing literature was clarified. Simultaneously the application of the administrative data from Statistics Netherlands and collection procedure of the municipal-level data began. This resulted in two novel data sets for each of the respective subprojects. One data set consisted of information on demographic background characteristics for each refugee center, voting behavior at the neighborhood level, and local sentiments on refugees expressed on social media. While the second data set combined information on the tariffs each municipality pays informal caregivers with informal caregivers’ employment outcomes.
With the data sets being ready, the analysis phase started. For the first subproject, together with my co-authors we employed a difference-in-difference design, using the arrival of a new refugee center in certain municipalities. The tentative results show that the attitude of the local population toward refugees does respond to the proximity of a refugee center, with their response being dependent on prior economic conditions and sentiments within the region. For the second subproject, I made use of the quasi-random variation in the support informal caregivers receive from their municipality after the decentralization reform in 2015. This reform shifted the responsibility of youth care from the national government to the municipalities. Analyzing the novel self-collected data on municipal support for parents who are informal caregivers shows great diversity in the support municipalities offer. The payment informal care givers may receive for the additional care they provide to their child, can be almost twice as large depending on the municipality where they live. The next step is to investigate how this variety in municipal support impacts employment outcomes of informal caregivers, which is to be completed soon.
For both subprojects a start has been made with writing the academic working papers. In addition, a non-technical summary has been prepared for the second subproject on the regional diversity of municipal support of informal caregivers (see the project’s website). The preliminary results have been disseminated and communicated with both academic and broader non-academic audiences. Among others, I have held several internal and external academic presentations, organized bilateral meetings with experts in the field and actively disseminated the non-technical summary among governmental bodies.
With the data sets being ready, the analysis phase started. For the first subproject, together with my co-authors we employed a difference-in-difference design, using the arrival of a new refugee center in certain municipalities. The tentative results show that the attitude of the local population toward refugees does respond to the proximity of a refugee center, with their response being dependent on prior economic conditions and sentiments within the region. For the second subproject, I made use of the quasi-random variation in the support informal caregivers receive from their municipality after the decentralization reform in 2015. This reform shifted the responsibility of youth care from the national government to the municipalities. Analyzing the novel self-collected data on municipal support for parents who are informal caregivers shows great diversity in the support municipalities offer. The payment informal care givers may receive for the additional care they provide to their child, can be almost twice as large depending on the municipality where they live. The next step is to investigate how this variety in municipal support impacts employment outcomes of informal caregivers, which is to be completed soon.
For both subprojects a start has been made with writing the academic working papers. In addition, a non-technical summary has been prepared for the second subproject on the regional diversity of municipal support of informal caregivers (see the project’s website). The preliminary results have been disseminated and communicated with both academic and broader non-academic audiences. Among others, I have held several internal and external academic presentations, organized bilateral meetings with experts in the field and actively disseminated the non-technical summary among governmental bodies.
The potential impact of the research project on policymaking and the larger society are considerable. The project shows important regional differences in the support of two vulnerable societal groups: refugees and informal care givers. If policymakers are interested in improving important life outcomes, such as employment, for these groups they will have to take regional differences in the local environment these groups face into account.