Human-induced climate change is affecting weather and climate extremes worldwide, leading to losses and damages to nature and people. The literature has found mixed results on the effect of extreme...Show moreHuman-induced climate change is affecting weather and climate extremes worldwide, leading to losses and damages to nature and people. The literature has found mixed results on the effect of extreme weather events on climate attitudes. Using the EIB climate Survey data from 2019 to 2022, this thesis tries to assess the regional effect of floods on climate prioritisation, climate risk perception and the opinion that individual behaviour can make a difference in tackling climate change. It takes as a case study the July 2021 floods in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France. Using a Differencein- Differences analysis with non-affected regions as a counterfactual, the thesis finds no statistically significant effect of the floods on climate attitudes at the regional level. However, consistently with the existing literature, the thesis emphasises the relevance of other good predictors such as political orientation, gender, economic risk perceptions, or age.Show less
In the past decades, scholars have been increasingly recognizing the importance of solid reputation building for the autonomy and legitimacy of independent regulatory agencies. In response to this...Show moreIn the past decades, scholars have been increasingly recognizing the importance of solid reputation building for the autonomy and legitimacy of independent regulatory agencies. In response to this growing body of research, this master thesis aims to understand the influence of the content of reputational threats on the reputational strategies of independent regulatory agencies (IRA). By investigating the reputational management of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) during the Dutch energy crisis, this paper aims to shed light on the role of pre-existing levels of reputation. Using a qualitative framing analysis, this study argues that the ACM uses a more evasive response strategy regarding its functional areas that enjoy a solid reputation, whereas weaker reputations are more often protected with direct strategies. These evasive strategies include problem denial, promises of continued monitoring and managing public expectations. On the other hand, the direct responses include problem acknowledgment, taking active measures and emphasizing unique features. However, a too small sample of data was collected regarding the response strategy of unique features specifically. Moreover, the final hypothesis considers the role of prolonged reputational threats, yet mixed evidence left a conclusion impossible. Lastly, recognizing that regulatory agencies are perceived by the public as scientific institutions, this thesis maintains that it is important for regulatory agencies to properly divide its attention to all regulatory duties. This is necessary to avoid suspicion of bias due to reputational considerations and thereby impair the reputation they aim to protect.Show less
To accomplish policy tasks, political leaders and executives entrust bureaucrats who possess specialized knowledge, however in doing so, they face the potential loss of control over policy...Show moreTo accomplish policy tasks, political leaders and executives entrust bureaucrats who possess specialized knowledge, however in doing so, they face the potential loss of control over policy formulation and execution. This becomes problematic if bureaucrats hold differing preferences from their superiors. The study examines how leaders in public institutions behave in face of insubordination under modern governing conditions where decentralization, outsourcing and market-based reasoning are major factors. It establishes how executives manage bureaucratic insubordination in a specific case of Polish sub-national institutions, contributing to an academically underrepresented institutional setting. Supported by the typology of Yukl (2012) it outlines practical and realistic models of executive behavior.Show less
In sociological research, historical and sociological institutionalism is used to understand the decision-making process within institutions. Since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, the EU has...Show moreIn sociological research, historical and sociological institutionalism is used to understand the decision-making process within institutions. Since Russia attacked Ukraine in 2022, the EU has frequently underlined to take action to support Ukraine and its sovereignty. This research will create an understanding of how the EU comes to conflict policy and why the institution eventually imposed economic sanctions in response to Russia.Show less
This research study examines the impact of the Dutch Work and Security Act (WWZ) on job quality in the Netherlands, specifically focusing on earnings, job security, and working conditions. Using a...Show moreThis research study examines the impact of the Dutch Work and Security Act (WWZ) on job quality in the Netherlands, specifically focusing on earnings, job security, and working conditions. Using a Difference-in-Difference (DiD) approach, the study compares the effects of the WWZ between two groups: employees with temporary contracts (treatment group) and employees with permanent contracts (control group). The Longitudinal Internet Studies for Social Sciences (LISS) dataset from 2013 to 2019 is utilized for the analysis. The results indicate that the WWZ has a significant positive effect on job security and working conditions, supporting the hypotheses. However, satisfaction with income is not significantly affected by the WWZ, contrary to expectations. When considering different sectors, the effects of the WWZ on job quality are not significant overall, except for a significant positive effect on job security in the commercial service sector. This finding suggests that there may be additional factors influencing job quality in different sectors, warranting further investigation. Overall, this study contributes to the understanding of the outcomes and consequences of the WWZ in terms of job quality for temporary employees in the Netherlands.Show less
The behavioral theory of the firm lacks a comprehensive understanding of issue prioritization, particularly when multiple issues are performing below aspiration levels, or resources are limited....Show moreThe behavioral theory of the firm lacks a comprehensive understanding of issue prioritization, particularly when multiple issues are performing below aspiration levels, or resources are limited. This study investigates the prioritization of eGovernment initiatives, considering budget constraints and the emphasis on historical versus social aspiration levels. Two theoretical expectations were developed: 1) the prioritization of historical versus social aspiration levels, and 2) the prioritization of eGovernment initiatives under budget constraints. Semi-structured interviews with 9 public officials from the Directorate-General for Economic Activities in Portugal were conducted to assess the expectations. The thematic analysis revealed that public officials do not change the priorities of eGovernment initiatives based on budget constraints and predominantly prioritize social aspirations over historical ones. This study highlights the importance of pragmatism driven by necessity alongside creativity. The findings have implications for issue prioritization, performance feedback, cutback management, and public administration literature in general. Future research should expand the study to include coercive aspiration levels, less salient issues, different countries, and different public organizations. Additionally, preferences and public sector motivation can be included as moderators, and employing a mixed-methods approach could be beneficial.Show less
This research attempts to fill the gap in the literature regarding voting behavior in the Justice and Home Affairs configuration of the Council of the European Union. The results from fixed effect...Show moreThis research attempts to fill the gap in the literature regarding voting behavior in the Justice and Home Affairs configuration of the Council of the European Union. The results from fixed effect logistic regressions of various models are that the state of the national budget was the most important factor in explaining voting behavior in this configuration. While there are a multitude of research limitations that limit the generability of these results, it does provide a solid starting point for further research.Show less
The contemporary Russian invasion of Ukraine requires a reassessment of the European Union’s foreign policy tools as the threat of war has not been so high in recent history. As the EU’s sanction...Show moreThe contemporary Russian invasion of Ukraine requires a reassessment of the European Union’s foreign policy tools as the threat of war has not been so high in recent history. As the EU’s sanction regime is one of the most important tools for the union outside influence on that is important to be evaluated. For that Kingdon’s stream model is used, together with policy advisory systems theory, to analyse the influence of think tanks in the European Unions sanction regime. In this combined model a most similar system’s design is applied to analyse the influence of think tanks in similar cases. A relation is found between think tank publications and the implementation of sanctions, from which is inferred that the influence of think tanks is primarily in the political stream. Consequently, as the political stream is influenced that is the weakest spot of the EU’s sanction regime. As the EU consists of democratic states this is not a major issue because within the members states the decision-makers are held accountable. Moreover, the members of the European parliament are also held accountable so there are two manners that compensate this weakness.Show less
This thesis studies the effect of the ‘Besluit passende arbeid WW en ZW’ on alcohol and tobacco use of the unemployed who were treated by this reform. It is expected that the unemployed will...Show moreThis thesis studies the effect of the ‘Besluit passende arbeid WW en ZW’ on alcohol and tobacco use of the unemployed who were treated by this reform. It is expected that the unemployed will increase their alcohol and tobacco use due to the increased stress caused by the reform. The study uses a difference-in-difference with fixed effects to estimate the causal effect. The results show that there is an overall higher chance of suffering from stress and that the treated female unemployed have a higher chance of smoking. The results do not indicate an effect on men or alcohol consumption. All in all, there are some indications that the reforms leads to smoking but further research is necessary.Show less
