“Polder Model” and Fiscal Reform

Abstract

  This article considers fiscal reform of the Polder model in the Lubbers administration (1982-1994) and the Kok administration (1994-2002). The Polder model, that is the Dutch version of consensus decision-making about economic and social policy, has reformed the Dutch employment system. However, how did the fiscal reform affect the success of the Polder model? We should focus on how the institutions of Dutch welfare state with the immediate task of fiscal reconstruction adapted to diversification of employment types. As a result of this analysis, the fiscal reform approach of Lubbers administration was different from that of Kok administration. These fiscal reforms and the evaluation of the Polder model were inseparable. The Dutch fiscal reforms were done interactively between the changes of the labour market and the social structure.