Abstract
In Dutch vocational education and training, representatives of business and labour traditionally play a role in the definition of qualifications and the access to work place learning. Over the past few years, direct concerns about innovation and the labour market have gained significance in the world of vocational education in both upper-secondary (VET, MBO in Dutch) and tertiary level (HPE, HBO in Dutch). However, innovation and labour markets differ widely between regions and sectors. National policies and local schools need to cope with this variety. In this chapter, we explore the combination of national policy goals and economic variety by analysing a new policy approach of creating public-private partnerships (PPP) between companies and institutes of vocational education at regional level. These investments were made under specific institutional conditions, which aim to combine national goals of advocating innovation with freedom to act for regional actors. This open, explorative approach of experimental governance corresponds with the national ambition to transform Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Higher Professional Education (HPE).
To explore the underlying institutional conditions, we conducted four cases varying on two axis. First, we study the distance of companies to the innovation frontier (or the degree to which the region hosts a complete innovation system). Second, we analyse the extent to which businesses are physically clustered or geographically concentrated. Our cases include the ‘top sector Agrifood’, the ‘topsector Creative Industry’, the ‘top sector High Tech Systems and Materials’ in Twente and the Manufacturing Industry in North Holland. We analyse how PPP-agreements came into being. To explain the variance from intense (High Tech Systems and Materials region Twente) to low cooperation (creative sector) a third factor is taken into account. Relevant is the level of organization of the industry in administrative networks, which enables and facilitates agreement with other parties such as educational institutes and (local) governments. In our conclusions, we discuss the further conditions for transformation of VET.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
For the regional ambitions see the chapter in this book by Anneke Westerhuis/ Marc van der Meer.
References
Bartelsman, E., Haskel, J. & Martin, R. (2008): Distance to which frontier? Evidence on productivity convergence from international firm-level data. CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP7032.
Busemeijer, M., & Trampusch, C. (2012). The political economy of skill formation. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Cooke, P., Uranga, M. G., & Etxebarria, G. (1998). Regional systems of innovation: An evolutionary perspective. Environment and Planning, 30, 1563–1584.
Crouch, C., Schröder, M., & Voelzkow, H. (2009). Regional and sectoral varieties of capitalism. Economy and Society, 38(4), 654–678.
Di Giovanni, J. & Levchenko, A.A. (2009, September). Firm entry, trade, and welfare in Zipf’s world (RSIE Discussion Paper 591).
Gregersen, B., & Johnson, B. (1997). Learning economies, innovation systems and European integration. Regional Studies, Taylor and Francis Journals, 31(5), 479–490.
Hall, P. A., & Soskice, D. (2001). Varieties of capitalism: The institutional foundations of comparative advantage. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Heemskerk, E., & Zeitlin, J. (2014). Public-private partnerships in Dutch vocational education and training: Learning, monitoring and governance. InAnnex 3 to Platform Bèta Techniek, midterm review. The Hague, The Netherlands: PBT.
HPBO. (2016). Innovizier: Twaalf jaar vernieuwen in het beroepsonderwijs. [Innovizier: Twelve years of renewal], juli 2016, Het Platform Beroepsonderwijs.
Iversen, T. (1999). Decentralization, monetarism, and the social-democratic welfare state in the 1980s and 90s. In T. Iversen, J. Pontusson, & D. Soskice (Eds.), Unions, employers and central banks: Macroeconomic coordination and institutional change in social market economies. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Katzenstein, P. J. (1985). Small states in world markets. Industrial policy in Europe. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Leydesdorff, L., Dolfsma, W., & van der Panne, G. (2006). Measuring the knowledge base of an economy in terms of triple-helix relations among ‘technology, organization, and territory’. Research Policy, 35(2), 181–199.
Lundvall, B.-Å. (1985). Product innovation and user-producer interaction, industrial development (Research series 31). Aalborg: Aalborg University Press.
Musiolik, J., Markard, J., & Hekkert, M. P. (2012). Networks and network resources in technological innovation systems: Towards a conceptual framework for system-building. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 79, 1032–1048.
Nauta, F., & Gielen, M. (2009). Regionale innovatie als economische strategie [Regional innovation as economic strategy] (pp. 9–17). Arnhem: HAN Business Publications.
Onderwijsraad. (2010). Ontwikkeling en ondersteuning van onderwijs [Development and support of education]. Den Haag: Onderwijsraad.
Panteia. (2013). Technologische en sociale innovatie in een concurrerende markt. Innovatie- en concurrentiemonitor topsectoren 2012. [Technological and social innovation in a competitive market. Innovation and competitiveness monitor for the top sectors]. Zoetermeer: Panteia.
Platform Bèta Techniek (2014). Dynamiek onderweg- Midterm review centres of expertise & Centra voor innovatief vakmanschap [Dynamics underway- Midterm review centres of expertise & centres for innovative craftmanship]. Den Haag, The Netherlands: PBT.
Porter, M. E. (1990). The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Free Press. (Republished with a new introduction, 1998.)
Porter, M. E. (2000). Locations, clusters, and company strategy. In G. L. Clark, M. P. Feldman, & M. S. Gertler (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of economic geography. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Schmitter, P. & Streeck, W., (1999). The logics of collective action (Max Planck Institute Working Paper).
Smulders, H.,Hoeve, A., & van der Meer, M. (2012). Krachten bundelen voor vakmanschap: over co-makership tussen onderwijs en bedrijfsleven. [Joining forces for craftmanship: on comakership between education and business]. ‘s-Hertogenbosch: ecbo.
Streeck, W. (1997). Beneficial constraints: On the economic limits of rational voluntarism. In J. R. Hollingsworth & R. Boyer (Eds.), Contemporary capitalism: The embeddedness of institutions (pp. 197–219). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Tödtling, F., & Trippl, M. (2005). One size fits all? Towards a differentiated regional innovation policy approach. Research Policy, 34, 1203–1219. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Touw, van der- Committee (2013). Publiek-private samenwerking in het beroepsonderwijs [Public-private cooperation in vocational education], 17 juni.
Traxler, F. (1995). Collective bargaining and industrial change: A case of disorganization? European Sociological Review, 12, 271–287.
Traxler, F., Brandl, B., & Pernica, S. (2007). Business associaility, activities and governance: Cross national findings. In F. Traxler & G. Huemer (Eds.), Handbook of business interest associations, firms size and governance. A comparative analytical approach. London/New York: Routledge.
Van den Toren, J.P., Hessels, L.K., Eveleens, C., & van der Meulen, B.J.R. (2012). Coördinatie in de topsectoren. De geplande TKI’s en hun uitdagingen. [Co-ordination in the topsectors. The foreseen Top-institutes and their challenges]. Den Haag, The Netherlands: Rathenau Instituut. SciSA rapport 1226.
Van der Meer, M. (2014). Vakmensen en bewust vertrouwen. [Craftspersons and conscious trust]. Tilburg, The Netherlands: Tilburg Law School, inaugural lecture.
Van der Meer, M., & van der Meijden, A. (2013). Sectoral training and education funds in the Netherlands – a case of institutional innovation? Amsterdam: ILERA-conference.
Van der Meer, M., & Pétit, R. (2010). Naar een verbindende leerarchitectuur. Strategische verkenning van de aansluiting tussen onderwijs en arbeidsmarkt. [Towards a joining learning architecture. Strategic exploration of the connection between education and the labour market]. ’s-Hertogenbosch: Ecbo.
Van der Meer, M., Visser, J., Wilthagen, T., & van der Heijden, P.F., (2003). Weg van het Overleg? De Nederlandse overlegeconomie twintig jaar na Wassenaar. [A(way) of consultation. The Dutch consultation economy twenty years after Wassenaar]. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Van Lieshout, H. (2008). Different hands. Markets for intermediate skills in Germany, The US and The Netherlands, dissertation, Groningen: Hanze Hogeschool.
Veerman-Committee. (2010). Differentiëren in drievoud, [Differentiation in three dimensions]. The Hague, The Netherlands: Ministerie OCW.
Visser, J. (2003), ‘Arbeidsverhoudingen na de kanteling’, [Industrial relations after toppling]. In W. de Nijs & A. Nagelkerke (Eds.), Sturen in het laagland – Over continuïteit en verandering van de Nederlandse arbeidsverhoudingen. [Steering in the low lands- On continuity and change in Dutch industrial relations] (pp. 15–52). Alphen aan de Rijn, The Netherlands: Samson.
Visser, J., & Hemerijck, A. (1997). A Dutch miracle: Job growth, welfare reform and corporatism in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
WRR. (2013). Naar een lerende economie. [Towards a learning economy]. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Annex: Visualisation of the Empirical Cases
Annex: Visualisation of the Empirical Cases
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
van der Meer, M., van den Toren, J.P., Lie, T. (2017). Transforming Vocational Education: Encouraging Innovation via Public Private Partnerships. In: de Bruijn, E., Billett, S., Onstenk, J. (eds) Enhancing Teaching and Learning in the Dutch Vocational Education System. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50732-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50734-7
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)