This thesis examines the influence of New Public Management (NPM) on data-driven policymaking (DDPM) in the Dutch municipal social domain. Despite the acknowledged benefits of DDPM, its widespread...Show moreThis thesis examines the influence of New Public Management (NPM) on data-driven policymaking (DDPM) in the Dutch municipal social domain. Despite the acknowledged benefits of DDPM, its widespread adoption in the public sector faces challenges, prompting the need for an in-depth exploration from an organisational perspective. The research goes beyond the mere evaluation of previously identified factors in literature could be extended to the municipal social domain by investigating the influence of NPM principles on DDPM. In order to do so, the research involved two phases, confirming DDPM factors' applicability and assessing NPM's influence on DDPM in the municipal social domain. This context was chosen due to the influence of NPM in the 2015 decentralisations. Results confirm the relevance of institutional capacity, expertise, data quality and organisational culture. Data sharing is however less applicable to the field, as DDPM in municipalities mainly involves intradepartmental data use for policy. More specifically, data quality is hindered by coverage, as municipalities experience issues in obtaining data from service providers in het social domain. Finally, financial control emerges as a primary motivator to DDPM, leading to the influence of NPM on DDPM. The research found that the disaggregated internal structure constrain the municipalities in spreading DDPM throughout the organisation. Moreover, the purchaser/provider separation results in a principal-agent relationship in which the municipalities experience data gaps as service providers do not submit sufficient data to perform intended analysis. Finally, although performance management was prominent within municipalities under NPM, it does not enable the use of DDPM to a large extent. As mentioned before, financial control dominates the list of reasons to use DDPM. In addition, many municipalities allocate budgetary issues to the 2015 decentralisations. Hence, NPM enables DDPM as the latter is perceived as a solution to these issues. The research enriches existing literature by highlighting the close association between DDPM and NPM in the municipal social domain. It provides relevant insights into DDPM integration, and the remaining influence of NPM in the municipal social domain.Show less
Like many other European welfare states, the Netherlands decentralized its social care policy towards Dutch municipalities, to enhance client-tailored approaches within the delivery of social care...Show moreLike many other European welfare states, the Netherlands decentralized its social care policy towards Dutch municipalities, to enhance client-tailored approaches within the delivery of social care services. As a result, social workers working for municipalities are now in charge of freely interpreting and engaging in client-tailoring in a manner they deem best for their cases. Given that social workers inhabit various role conceptions, this research focuses on how social workers’ role conceptions impact the manner in which they define and pursue client-tailoring. To analyse this, this qualitative research conducted twelve in-depth interviews with Dutch social workers from different municipalities and social care domains: income and employment reintegration processes, long-term care, youth care and social assistance. The data-analysis, and results and findings of this study show how inhabiting various role conceptions affect how client-tailoring is defined and pursued.Show less
