Varieties of Market Competition in Public Employment Services – A Comparison of the Emergence and Evolution of the New System in A ustralia, the N etherlands and B elgium

This article deals with the evolution of a quasi‐market system in the employment services in three countries: A ustralia, the N etherlands and B elgium. Based on an in‐depth analysis of the reform process over the past two decades, we arrive at the observation that A ustralia and the N etherlands, unlike B elgium, make comparable choices when restructuring this policy domain, although their context of a welfare state is different. Second, the new structures in those countries which have made the same choices are seen to evolve differently after only a short period of time. This article argues that no convergence towards the same competitive market model is to be found. It provides an institutional explanation by tracing elements of a new system logic which entered the existing structure, and identifying change mechanisms which generate a cumulative process of smaller changes.