Frans van Waarden

Frans van Waarden (1950) is Professor of Policy and Organization at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and Fellow of University College Utrecht, the English language honors liberal arts and science college of Utrecht University. He studied sociology, history and political science at the Universities of Toronto and Leyden. Earlier, he taught at the universities of Leyden and Konstanz, was visiting scholar/fellow at the Center for European Studies of Stanford University, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies NIAS, and the European University Institute in Florence, and guest teacher in Leipzig and Vienna.

His interests are in phenomena at the boundaries of politics, economics, law and history, seen through the eyes of a sociologist, i.e. political sociology, economic sociology, and sociology of law. Currently his main focus is on the governance of markets. He is interested in the intended and unintended effects of market liberalization on market governance institutions, in particular more indirect consequences, such as increases in the importance of other governance mechanisms as litigation and case law, rigid rule enforcement by new regulatory agencies, and internal bureaucracy in both public and private organizations. He also investigates the paradoxical thesis that, while liberalism and democracy have on the one hand always criticized bureaucracy, increases in democratic oversight and market liberalization only seem to increase bureaucracy further. Funding for various projects comes from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research NWO.

Earlier on he has published on labor relations, co-determination, history of technology, textile industry, industrial policy, collective action, business' associations, corporatism, state-industry relations, innovation, comparison of legal systems, epistemic communities, European integration, notably transposition of European directives in national law.

His publications appeared in edited book volumes and journals such as Journal of European Political Research, Journal of European Public Policy, Organization Studies, Acta Politica, Review of International Political Economy, Wirtschaftspolitische Blaetter, Economisch-Statistische Berichten, Beleid en Maatschappij. His books include Fabriekslevens (1987), Het geheim van Twente (1987) (on the history of employers’ associations in the Dutch cotton industry), Organisatiemacht van belangenverenigingen (1989) (on business associations and self regulation in construction), Cultures of Unemployment (1993), and he co-edited the volumes Organizing Business for War. Industrial Policy and Corporatism during the Second World War (1991), Convergence or Diversity? Internationalization and Economic Policy Response (1995),  Prospects for Safe and Sound Jobs. The Impact of Future Trends on Costs and Benefits of Occupational Health and Safety (1997), Ruimte rond regels. Stijlen van regulering en beleidsuitvoering vergeleken (1999),  Renegotiating the Welfare State (2003), and Institutions and Innovation (2004).

www.fss.uu.nl/asw/vanwaarden