Personalia
Harry van Dalen, born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1961. Ph.D. from Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Professor of Economics at Tilburg University and Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute.
Theme Group Fellow (1 February – 30 June 2016)
From Multidisciplinary Perspectives to Interdisciplinary Pathways: An Agenda for Future Retirement Research and Policy
Research Question
My aim is to discover how employers differ internationally with respect to extending the working lives of older workers, in particular by means of an employer’s survey and by designing novel vignette studies which shed light on human resource practices within organizations.
Project Description
Working longer and productively is a buzz word in ageing societies, but is easier said than done. It not only depends on how employees are willing and able to work and develop skills, in most matters the employer has a key say in hiring, firing and maintaining older workers. To get a grip on successful human resource management and government policy designed to extend our working lives I will focus on how employers actually behave in dealing with an ageing work force. How do they view older workers? And under what circumstances are they tempted to invest and recharge older workers? Does employment protection hinder or promote the hiring and firing of older workers? These and other questions will be at the forefront of this research project.
Selected Publications
1) H.P. van Dalen, K. Henkens, and M. Wang, 2014, Recharging or Retiring the Older Worker? Uncovering Age-Based Strategies of European Employers, The Gerontologist, first online, June 5 2014, doi: 10.1093/geront/gnu048
2) H.P. van Dalen, and K. Henkens, 2013, Explaining Emigration Intentions and Behaviour in the Netherlands, 2005-10, Population Studies, Volume 67(2), 225-241.
3) H.P. van Dalen, K. Henkens and J.J. Schippers, 2010, Productivity of the Older Worker: Perceptions of Employers and Employees, Population and Development Review, vol. 36(2): 309-330.