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Population registries are the gateway to public services, benefits, and rights. However, despite clear formal rules and procedures, people eligible for registration may still face administrative burdens in obtaining access. In this article, we study the case of the municipal registration of people who experience homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands—a group that typically suffers from administrative vulnerability. Using data from 61 interviews with social workers and civil servants, we find that burdens are constructed at the municipal level to disincentivize homeless people's access to registration. However, using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, we also identify mechanisms in the governance of population registrations and the decentralization of social policies that create incentives for strategic behavior by municipal policy makers and street‐level bureaucrats. By analyzing the interaction between multiple institutional levels, we contribute to understanding how structural mechanisms influence policymakers' agency in the construction of administrative burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Worldwide obesity rates have nearly tripled over the past five decades. So far, policies to promote a healthier diet have been less intrusive than those to reduce tobacco and alcohol consumption. Not much is known about public support for policies that aim to promote a healthy diet. In this study, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to elicit stated preferences for policies varying in intrusiveness among a representative sample of the public of The Netherlands. Methods: The choice tasks presented respondents a hypothetical scenario of two policy packages, each comprising a mix of seven potential policies that differed in level of intrusiveness. We estimated mixed logit models (MXL) to estimate respondents' preferences for these policies and performed latent class analyses to identify heterogeneity in preferences. Results: The MXL model showed that positive financial incentives like subsidies for vegetables and fruit yielded most utility. A tax of 50% on sugary drinks was associated with disutility while a tax of 20% was associated with positive utility compared to no tax at all. We identified three subgroups with distinct preferences for the seven policies to promote a healthy diet, which were characterized as being "against", "mixed" and "pro" policies to promote a healthy diet. Conclusion: Preferences for policies promoting a healthy diet vary considerably in the Dutch population, particularly in relation to more intrusive policies. This makes selection and implementation of a policy package that has wide public support challenging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active travel choice analysis in response to policies related to sustainability and urban sprawl has been considered in past research. Recent research emphasizes the importance of attitudinal variables in explaining underlying travel preferences. However, these studies lack detailed econometric analysis of attitudinal preferences impact on active and non-active transport choices for non-work travel activities explicitly. In this study, travel diary data from a Netherlands-based mobility panel survey is utilized. Bicycle-oriented and car-loving attitudinal indicators along with travel time and sociodemographic variables are incorporated in a simultaneous integrated choice and latent variable model for non-work travel activities. It is found that latent preferences for bicycle and car significantly impact the choice of active and non-active modes, respectively, for non-work travel activities. Bicycle choice probability is found to be more elastic to the latent car-loving attitude as compared to bicycle-oriented attitude. Both auto and bicycle choice probabilities are found to be more elastic to their respective latent preferences as compared to their respective travel times. Current research aims to contribute toward the dialogue on policies for promotion of active travel. This study provides empirical support for strategies that consider persuasive techniques and incentive mechanisms to enhance active transport usage through information technologies. Since the current empirical research advocates the influence of attitudes on the active transport choice for non-work activities, there is a high probability that such policies can be implemented and would be preferred by the individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in transportation and communications technologies influence the development of cities and how people move through them. Since the widespread adoption of smartphones, mobility and information and communication technology (ICT) have become increasingly interconnected, and there may be a possibility for mobile technologies to nudge, or influence, individuals to travel using sustainable, and collective modes. It remains unclear whether social, financial, or ICT incentives would be effective to nudge the use of sustainable modes. The objective of the study is to understand the reasons affecting modal choices and how the use of ICTs and personal opinions and attitudes influence the decision-making process. A discrete choice model is used to consider five transportation alternatives including three single modes, namely bicycle, transit, and car, and two multimodal possibilities, bicycle and transit as well as park and ride (car and transit). The target population for this study are Utrecht University employees, who travel to a large university campus located in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The results of the person-based mode-choice model demonstrate that strong correlations exist between the kinds of mobile applications individuals use, their attitudes towards travel, their personal characteristics and their transportation mode. No mobile application seems to favor the use of active modes, which cast doubts upon the use of ICT to promote sustainable transportation. However, social incentives may play an important role for certain groups as individuals who are influenced by their friends, family, and colleagues, are less likely to travel by car or to use park & ride facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In insurance-based healthcare systems, healthcare insurers are interested in engaging citizens in care procurement to contract healthcare services that matter to people. In the Netherlands, an amendment to the Health Insurance Act was set forth in 2021 to formalize and strengthen the engagement of the insured population with healthcare insurers' procurement cycles. This study explores the role of Dutch healthcare insurers in operationalizing citizen engagement in procurement cycles before changes occur linked to the amendment to the Health Insurance Act. Methods: A phenomenological qualitative design was employed in two phases: (1) we consulted academics and policy experts on the role of healthcare insurers regarding citizen engagement; (2) we conducted focus groups with representatives of healthcare insurers to understand how citizens' engagement is being operationalized. Transcripts of the interviews with experts and detailed notes of focus group meetings were analysed using a qualitative inductive approach. Selected excerpts were analysed on discourse and content and organized by a coding scheme following a rigorous and accelerated data reduction technique. Results: We identified four strategies used by healthcare insurers to operationalize citizen engagement: (1) broadening their population health orientation; (2) developing and improving mechanisms for engaging citizens; (3) strengthening features of data governance for effective use of value-driven data; (4) implementing financial and incentive mechanisms among healthcare providers in support of value-based healthcare. However, regulated market mechanisms and low institutional trust in healthcare insurers undermine their transition from merely funding healthcare towards becoming people-centred value-based healthcare purchasers. Conclusion: Dutch healthcare insurers seem to be strengthening the community orientation of their functioning while enhancing the end-to-end experience of the insured. The expected practical effects of the amendment to the Health Insurance Act include broadening the role of the council of insurees in decision-making processes and systematically documenting the efforts set forth by healthcare insurers in engaging citizens. Further research is needed to better understand how the regulated competitive market could be hampering the engagement of citizens in healthcare procurement decision-making and value creation from the citizens' perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the roles (local) taxes can play in pursuing climate goals. The authors analyse the factors within the Dutch context which are limiting, and which are contributing to the effectiveness of the use of local taxes in the pursuit of climate goals. On the one hand, (local) taxes can serve their primary purpose: funding government spending, for example the creation of certain sustainable facilities. On the other hand, taxes can give a financial incentive to influence behaviour by improving the business case for sustainable solutions or make unsustainable behaviour more expensive or sustainable behaviour financially more attractive. This article presents examples of both funding sustainable facilities as of stimulating desired sustainable behaviour by means of a certain Dutch local tax measure. Despite the examples presented, we conclude that under the current legislative restrictions, in the Netherlands local taxes can play a modest role within the sustainability policy of local governments. The research into the current legal restrictions and possibilities for achieving climate goals with local taxes in the Netherlands leads to an analysis of insights that are also relevant outside the Dutch context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in many regions the conventional bicycle has already been regarded as an environmentally friendly and healthy alternative to the car for daily commuting, societal and policy agendas are also increasingly promoting e-bike adoption. Adding to recent research on e-bike safety, satisfaction with travel and behavioral change, this paper reports on the impact of weather circumstances on the use of the e-bike in daily commuting in an e-cycling incentive program in the province of Noord-Brabant, the Netherlands. The impact of this incentive program was analyzed using a longitudinal design, and it combined travel patterns that were derived from individuals' GPS data over nine months, hourly observed meteorological data, and questionnaires on intended behavior and sociodemographic characteristics. The findings suggest that the presence of snow and ice, total precipitation, and high windspeed negatively affected the choice of commuting to work by e-bike, in this decreasing order of impact. Although the overall impact of air temperature on e-cycling was positive, the likeliness to commute by e-bike decreased at higher air temperatures. E-cycling under specific weather conditions was more likely if participants' intention to e-cycle under such weather conditions was stronger. Our study indicates that the benefits of the e-bike in daily commuting are underestimated in relation to adverse weather conditions. Respondents from households with one car only, therefore, have fewer alternatives in poor weather conditions: for these individuals, only total precipitation and the presence of relatively low air temperature impact e-cycling. In addition, reported gender and high wind speeds might have been expected to influence participation in e-cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Financial incentives effectively increase smoking cessation rates, but it is unclear via which psychological mechanisms incentives influence quit behavior. The current study examines how receiving financial incentives for smoking cessation leads to quitting smoking and investigates several mediators and moderators of that relationship.Aims and Methods: The study sample consisted of 604 tobacco-smoking employees from 61 companies in the Netherlands who completed a baseline and follow-up questionnaire. The current study is a secondary analysis from a cluster randomized trial where employees received smoking cessation group counseling at the workplace. Participants in the intervention group additionally received financial incentives of €350 in total for 12-month continuous smoking abstinence. We used a two-level path analysis to test a model that assesses the effects of financial incentives through smoking cessation program evaluation, medication use, nicotine replacement use, attitudes, self-efficacy, and social influences on quit success. We additionally tested whether an individual's reward responsiveness moderated the influence of incentives on quit success.Results: The effect of financial incentives on quit success was mediated by a higher self-efficacy. Financial incentives were also associated with a higher use of cessation medication. A more positive program evaluation was related to higher self-efficacy, more social influence to quit, and more positive attitudes about quitting. The results did not differ significantly by individual reward responsiveness.Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that financial incentives may be used to increase medication use and self-efficacy for quitting smoking, which offers an indirect way to increase successful smoking cessation.Implications: (1) This is the first study investigating via which psychological pathways financial incentives for quitting smoking can lead to long-term quit success. (2) The results showed a path between financial incentives and a higher likelihood of medication use. Incentives may encourage smokers to use medication in order to increase their chance of quitting smoking and receive the reward. (3) There was a path from financial incentives to quit success via a higher self-efficacy. (4) The effects of financial incentives did not depend on individual reward responsiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how health care utilization responds to cost-sharing is of central importance for providing high quality care and limiting the growth of costs. We study whether the framing of cost-sharing incentives has an effect on health care utilization. For this we make use of a policy change in the Netherlands. Until 2007, patients received a refund if they consumed little or no health care; the refund was the lower the more care they had consumed. From 2008 onward, there was a deductible. This means that very similar economic incentives were first framed in terms of smaller gains and later as losses. We find that patients react to incentives much more strongly when they are framed in terms of losses. The effect on yearly spending is 8.6 percent. This suggests that discussions on the optimal design of cost-sharing incentives should also revolve around the question how these are presented to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally assumed that municipalities attract residents and businesses as a result of intermunicipal competition for tax revenues. This growth-oriented behaviour poses a serious problem considering internationally acknowledged goals to limit land take. Nonetheless, research on how fiscal incentives affect municipal land policies is scarce. Adapting a neoinstitutionalist approach, we compare the two contrasting fiscal systems of Germany and the Netherlands. While clear incentives can be deducted from the different sources of municipal income, complex balancing measurements and consequential infrastructure investments make it difficult to predict a project's profitability. According to the perspective of planning practitioners in municipalities around the growth centres of Utrecht and Berlin interviewed for this study, local pressures force them to keep allocating new building sites. In order to create effective policies to limit land take, it is important to understand not only the influence of fiscal incentives but also of place-specific pressures on municipal land policies. • Fiscal systems incentivize municipalities to pursue growth-oriented land policies. • Municipal planners have limited understanding of the profitability of developments. • Other factors affect the growth-orientedness of municipal land policies, too. • Both a decentralized and a centralized fiscal system can incentivize growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fusarium species infection in wheat can lead to Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) and contamination with mycotoxins. To fully exploit more recent insights into FHB and mycotoxin management, farmers might need to adapt their agronomic management, which can be stimulated through incentives. This study aimed to identify incentives to stimulate European farmers to adapt their agronomic management to reduce FHB and related mycotoxins in wheat. A questionnaire was distributed among 224 wheat farmers from Italy, the Netherlands, Serbia, and the United Kingdom. Using the respondents' data, Bayesian Network modelling was applied to estimate the probability that farmers would adapt their current agronomic management under eight different incentives given the conditions set by their farm and farmer characteristics. Results show that most farmers would adapt their current agronomic management under the incentives "paid extra when wheat contains low levels of mycotoxins" and "wheat is tested for the presence of mycotoxins for free". The most effective incentive depended on farm and farmer characteristics, such as country, crop type, size of arable land, soil type, education, and mycotoxin knowledge. Insights into the farmer characteristics related to incentives can help stakeholders in the wheat supply chain, such as farmer cooperatives and the government, to design tailor-made incentive plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Technical and functional obsolescence are the main drivers for phone replacement. • Willingness to recycle is inversely proportional to the phone's purchase price. • Financial incentives are the best driver to increase recycling of phones. • Using the old phone as a spare is the main reason for hibernation. • The majority of mobile phones are replaced within three years. Mobile phones contain valuable and rare earth minerals. At the end of their useful life, these phones are little reused or recycled since most of them are stored at home, a phenomenon also known as hibernation. Accurate hibernation rates per country or region do not exist but are assumed to be low, making end-of-life mobile phones an interesting waste stream to improve on waste recovery. This paper presents the results of a survey on the end-of-life mobile phone behavior in the Netherlands taken place in June 2019 amongst 296 participants. In so doing, it considers earlier addressed empirical concerns regarding the drivers of hibernation behavior, recycling and replacement. The hibernation rate turned out to be 61%. In line with earlier studies on mobile phone hibernation, technical and functional obsolescence are confirmed to be the main drivers of mobile phone replacement. Moreover, study results confirmed that the majority of mobile phones are replaced within three years and that using the old phone as a spare is the major reason for hibernation. This article advances several novel insights. First, the willingness to recycle appears to be inversely proportional to the perceived value of the discarded phone and proportional to the age of the mobile phone owner. Secondly, the perceived duration of ownership, a characteristic also reported in many previous studies, is incorrectly remembered by many respondents when gauging their responses against the actual mobile phone release date. Thirdly, financial incentives are shown to be the best driver to increase the intention to recycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]