Choices Within Collective Labour Agreements "à la Carte" in the Netherlands

In recent years European employers, unions and governments have developed initiatives that offer employees the right to exchange certain items within an agreed package of employment conditions. So far, the available evidence on the use of such 'cafeteria systems' is largely based on survey data rather than on actual choices. We analyse the actual choices made by the employees of Radboud University Nijmegen in the years 2002-2004. The results cast doubt on the efficiency and the effectiveness of employee choices within collective agreements, contradict the unions' push for working time reduction and question wage moderation and policies on work-life balance. Copyright Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2006.