About Paul

During my studies I developed an interest for the phenomenon of ‘work’ is in our society. This fascination with work - related with income and the functioning of the labour market - has never left me. Although I was educated as an econometrician, I soon discovered that a purely economic and quantitative approach to work is deficient. During my career I have therefore gradually developed into a general social scientist who likes to cross disciplinary boundaries. In order to really understand work and income, it is essential to combine economic, sociological, psychological and legal perspectives.

But my love for quantitative methods has remained. Fortunately, we now have a wealth of data at our disposal, which means that you can test almost every statement that is made against the facts. All too often statements turn out not to be consistent with the data but people blindly accept each other's claims. In a sense, I have seen it as my ‘calling’ to debunk such myths. See also my book ‘The Labour Market Myth’ and the liber amicorum that was presented to me upon my retirement and which has the fitting title ‘The Myth Buster’.

Despite my fascination with figures and statistics, I am very aware that they never show us the complete reality. After all, behind the figures there are people with their daily experiences. Quantitative methods are suitable for establishing general relationships between phenomena. But they usually do not provide insight into underlying (causal) mechanisms (although they can be used to falsify supposed mechanisms). That is why I like to combine quantitative research with qualitative research methods, such as interviews, document analysis or case studies.

For me, social science is never an end in itself. There are no generally applicable universal laws for human behaviour. This behaviour always depends on the historical and local (or national) context. But research can help us to better understand society in which we live here and now. In doing so, it can also provide tools to tackle problems effectively. Social sciences should, in my opinion, always serve a broader social goal and be relevant to policy. That is why I have always held positions in which scientific research serves policy: at the Wiardi Beckman Foundation (the scientific bureau of the Dutch Labour Party PvdA), The Netherlands Institute for Social Research (SCP), the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR) and the Scientific Bureau for the Trade Union Movement, de Burcht. And that is why I am still active as a member of the Advisory Council on Migration and of the Advisory Council of the UWV WERKbedrijf.