School of Social, Historical and Literary Studies

Profile

Expertise

Professor Finn has written extensively on labour market programmes, reform of public employment services and the implementation of welfare to work strategies. He has a particular research interest in the role that third and private sector organisations are now playing in delivering welfare to work programmes and has completed comparative studies of such developments in Australia, the USA and the Netherlands. Throughout his career Dan has undertaken, supervised, and managed a broad range of research projects, and has generated substantial grant income. He has extensive research and policy contacts in Europe, the USA and Australia and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Other Roles

Professor Finn has been a special adviser for many parliamentary inquiries and for other UK bodies. He has also been a consultant for a wide range of organisations including the National Audit Office and the World Bank and through his comparative research has worked with specialist research organisations in Europe, the USA and Australia.

Dan is an Associate Research Director at the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, an independent, not-for-profit organisation (see www.cesi.org.uk ).  Inclusion’s key areas of policy expertise include welfare to work, learning and skills, regeneration, homelessness, criminal justice and social exclusion and it plays a significant role in undertaking applied research, disseminating best practice, providing policy advice to government and NGOs, and in working with peer European and international networks. Dan works with Inclusion on both designing and delivering research projects and also direct policy development, which has included briefings and formal presentations for Ministers, civil servants and other policy makers on emerging research findings and international best practice. 

Recent Publications

• Subcontracting in Public Employment Services: the design and delivery of ‘outcome based’ and ‘black box’ contracts (2012), The European Commission Mutual Learning Programme for Public Employment Services, GHK Limited / Budapest Institute, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Brussels, at ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=8946&langId=en 
• with Tarr A. Universal Credit implementation and service delivery from the perspective of working age service users, Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, (2012) pp 1- 67
• The Design and Effectiveness of Active Labor Market Programs in OECD Countries: A Review of Recent Evidence for Latin America and the Caribbean, (2012) Technical Notes No. IDB-TN-348, Inter-American Bank, Labor Markets and Social Security Unit, Washington DC (available in English and Spanish)
• ''Ending Child Poverty' in the United Kingdom  – lessons from New Labour’s strategy', Canadian Review of Social Policy/Revue canadienne de politique sociale, No. 65/66, pp 139-153, University of York, Toronto, Canada
• Outsourcing Employment Programmes: Contract Design and Differential Prices (2011), European Journal of Social Security, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp 289-302, Intersentia, Kluwer Press.
• ‘Welfare to work after the recession: from the New Deals to the Work Programme (2011), in Holden C., Kilkey M. and Ramia G., Social Policy Review 23: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy, 2011, pp 127-146, Policy Press, Bristol.
• Subcontracting in Public Employment Services: Review of research findings and literature on recent trends and business models (2011), The European Commission Mutual Learning Programme for Public Employment Services, GHK Limited / Budapest Institute, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Brussels. 
• Job Services Australia: design and implementation lessons for the British context (2011),Research Report No 752, Department for Work and Pensions, London.
•  Outcome based commissioning: lessons from contracting out employment and skills programmes in Australia and the USA (2010), United Kingdom Commission for Employment and Skills, London.
•  Lone Parent Obligations: A review of recent evidence on the work-related requirements within the benefit systems of different countries (2010), with Gloster R., Research Report No. 632,Department for Work and Pensions, London.
• The ‘Welfare Market’ and the Flexible New Deal: Lessons from other countries (2009), Local Economy, Vol. 24, No. 1, pp 51-58, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
• The ‘Welfare Market’: the role of the private sector in the delivery of benefits and employment services (2009), in Millar J. (ed) Understanding social security (Second edition): Issues for policy and practice, Policy Press, Bristol
• Differential Pricing in Contracted Out Employment Programmes: Review of International Evidence (2009), Research Report, Department for Work and Pensions, London
• Welfare Markets: lessons from contracting out the delivery of welfare to work programmes in Australia and the Netherlands (2008), Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York
• Poverty and service delivery: benefits, tax credits and employment services (2008), with Mason D., Rahim N. and Casebourne J., Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York
• Workfare und ‘Sozialhilfe zu Arbeit’: Lehren aus Großbritannien (2008), in Eichhorst W. and Schneider H. (eds) Umsetzung des Workfare-Ansatzes im BMWi-Modell für eine existenzsichernde Beschäftigung,  IZA Research Report No. 18, Institute  for the Study of Labor, Bonn
• Activation Policies in Great Britain (2008), with Schulte B., in Eichhorst W., Konle-Seidl R. and Kaufmann O, Bringing the Jobless into Work? Experiences with Activation Schemes in Europe and the US, Springer,  Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
• Contracting Out Welfare to Work in the USA: Delivery Lessons (2007), Research Report No. 466, Department for Work and Pensions, London
• The ‘Wicked Problems’ of British Cities: Unemployment, Inactivity and Welfare to Work (2007), with Atkinson R. and Crawford A, in Donzelot J. (ed) Ville, City, Violence and Social Dependency, CEDOV Centre d'Etude, de Documentation et d'Observation sur les Villes, La Documentation francaise, Paris
• Welfare to Work: New Labours ‘Employment First’ Welfare State (2005), Benefits: A Journal of Social Security Research, Policy and Practice, Vol. 13, No. 2, pp 93-97, the Policy Press, Bristol
• ‘The role of contracts and the private sector in delivering Britain’s ‘employment first’ welfare state’ (2005), in Sol E. and Westerveld M. (eds) Contractualism in Employment Services: A New Form of Welfare State Governance, Kluwer Law International, Aspen Publishers, pp 101-117,  ISBN 9041124055
• The National Minimum Wage in the United Kingdom (2005) Graue Reihe des Instituts Arbeit und Technik 2005-01, Gelsenkirchen
• The ‘Employment First’ Welfare State: lessons from the New Deal for Young People (2003), Social Policy and Administration, vol. 38 no. 4, Dec, pp 709-724, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford
• Getting Jobs and Moving On: lessons from Britain’s ‘Employment First Welfare State’ (2005), refereed conference paper, Transitions and Risk: New Directions in Social Policy Conference, Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne, 23-25 February
• Reinventing the Public Employment Service: The Changing Role of Employment  Assistance in Great Britain and Germany (2004), with Knuth M., Schweer O. and Somerville W., Anglo German Foundation, Berlin and London
• Financial support for 16 to 19 year olds: A review of the literature and evidence on the Australian Youth Allowance (2004), with Branosky N., Department for Work and Pensions, London
• Employment First: Improving Australia's Employment Service and Job Network (2004), with Considine M., Chifley Research Centre, Canberra
• The 'Employment First' Welfare State: lessons from the New Deal for Young People (2003), Social Policy and Administration, Vol. 38 No. 4, Blackwell Publishing, Oxford
• Intermediate Labour Markets in Britain and an International Review of Transitional Employment Programmes (2003), with Simmonds D., Department for Work and Pensions, London