Blogs & Video's

My work focuses on applying the computational methodology of Agent-Based Modeling to questions about the sustainability of trends in aggregate consumption. My first paper “Catching Up or Keeping Up?” addresses the interaction of peer effects and developments in aggregate demand when income...

Participating in conferences is perhaps the most exciting part of a PhD journey. This July, I had the chance to do so twice. First, I joined the annual meeting of the European Real Estate Society in London, followed by the international conference of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics...

In a rapidly changing world faced with environmental challenges and social inequalities, the role of economics education in shaping future leaders is more critical than ever. If we aspire for a sustainable future, it becomes essential to (re)evaluate what we teach our students about economics and...

On July 3rd 2023 a broad coalition of Dutch civil society organisations, labor unions and think tankslaunched a call for a social and sustainable European fiscal pact in public debate centre Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. The coalition argues that the current EU budget undermine social and...

Extreme weather events have disastrous consequences for the livelihoods, health, and economic well-being of our communities. The banking sector can be an important lever to enhance our resilience. The thing is, we might have to trade off efficiency versus resilience.

As part of its commitment to bring researchers with different topical and methodological backgrounds together, the Maastricht Observatory on Responsible, Resilient and Sustainable Societies, Economies and Enterprise (MORSE) organized the 3^rd MORSE PhD Workshop on June 20 and 21. The workshop...

Uncertainty can make our lives difficult. This blog post will walk through the basic concepts of uncertainty in economics, coupled with a few takeaways from our research.

The Great Resignation saw a record number of people change their jobs post-pandemic – 49 million US professionals switched jobs in 2021, and one in five workers worldwide were planning to quit their job in 2022. Surveys consistently found that job switchers were looking for better, fairer, working...

There are smarter solutions than abolishing English-language programmes to curb the influx of international students. Offer them a better starting position in the labour market in the Netherlands and more access to Dutch society by making knowledge of the Dutch language and culture mandatory. They...

Following the unprecedented challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, resilience emerged as a fresh aspiration for individuals, teams, organizations, supply chains and—yes, you’ve guessed it!—even entire economies and societies. At the same time, the sustainability imperative has been with...

About a year ago, I lost a bet. As a wager, I had to watch the “The Last Dance”, the Netflix documentary about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. To me, who never watches sports on TV, sitting through a 10-part (!) series about basketball seemed to be quite dreadful. So, I thought. However, after...

On Jan 20, a group of people met in the St Jan’s church in Maastricht to discuss the topic of a natural social contract. The conference entitled “RE-NEGOTIATE: A New Social Contract in an age of crises" preceded the inaugural lecture of Patrick Huntjens on the same topic. Speakers from across the...

This 2 years ERASMUS+ project aims to develop innovative educational methods to promote sustainable consumption habits to adults.  In particular, the project will be targeted to producers and consumers in the coffee industry. The goal of the project is to utilise existing and develop new tools and...

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and trying new things, because we are curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”, Walt Disney

In Lewis Carroll’s famous “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” Alice is confronted with a series of unexpected and challenging situations. It all...

Immigrants form an increasing share of the Dutch population. Several barriers, such as a lack of Dutch language skills or limited knowledge on Dutch institutions, can hamper the integration process.   A major channel for integration is education. It can, among others, improve chances to receive...

The discussion on how many inhabitants the Netherlands could or should have ignores the essential factor: the rate of change in the population's size and composition. The way we have discussed this issue in the past decades paralyses the debate on what is needed to adapt to the changes that are...

Growing up in Belgium and working at a Belgian University, I have always had a positive image of family businesses. When we think about family businesses in Belgium, big brands and companies of which most Belgians are proud come to mind. An example is “AB Inbev,” a publicly–listed family firm...

Impact assessment refers to the various practices of trying to understand the contributions to addressing different sustainability challenges [1,2]. Assessing impact is often by default referring to the measurements conducted after the execution of different projects, decisions or policies –...

Eleanor Roosevelt was the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the United States’ longest serving president, who held office from 1933 until 1945, four terms in total.

Introducing Eleanor like this does not do her justice. She was certainly much more than “the wife of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” She was an...

In the recent years, we all observed how countries and institutions relied on digital tools to deal with the COVID shocks. For example, as Maastricht University, with the help of the digital learning management system and meeting software CANVAS, ZOOM and TEAMS we were able to continue our education...

As rising house prices and rents trigger a grim affordability crisis in many urban markets, both policymakers and frustrated tenants have been longing for solutions. This has brought the issue of housing supply constraints – factors that impede the development of new housing units and thereby raise...

Resilience is a fascinating word. According to the Oxford Dictionary, it is “the ability of people or things to recover quickly after something unpleasant”. Therein, it suggests agency, the ability to change. But too often we find ourselves confronted with external influences that can have long...

The sudden and extreme increase in energy prices and the subsequent emergence of broader inflation is a big negative shock for the economy, hurting households and firms. Fighting inflation is a task for policymakers, in particular central banks. However, the different trade-offs that central banks...

Remember the last time you were wrong? And I don’t mean slightly off-target but very, very wrong. Everything looked crisp, clear. It just made sense. There was no doubt, so you went all in.

Then the shock. Reality sank in. Slowly at first. Gradually there was more nuance. Gray shades were all...

Looking back on the last two years, it is safe to say that we all have been through a lot. Most of us (individuals, families, organisations, and society as a whole) are coming out of “crisis mode” and we all need to get used to a new normal. Of course, the pandemic is not over, but as most corona...

See below a blog post that calls for interdisciplinary collaboration to identify public policies that strengthen supply chain(s)’resilience.

Each year people donate more than $500 Billion — equivalent to 2.5% of the US GDP. The sheer size of this amount shows that charitable giving has the potential to play a prominent role in the transition towards a more equal and sustainable society.

It was an eye-opening moment: a few years’ ago, I attended a huge conference on microfinance, together with one of my PhD students. In attendance at the conference was a nice mix of academics and practitioners. Our paper, presented by my PhD student, was about what has become known as ‘mission drift...

In the light of numerous recent disruptive events, the (economic) sustainability of cross-border supply chains receives increasing attention in public debates. Consequences of natural disasters, political power games or an enduring pandemic become widely felt, even when countries are not directly...

This Summer, when on holiday in Norway, I noticed how clean the water was in one of the fjords surrounding the beautiful city of Bergen. It allowed for making idyllic pictures of houses whose outlines were reflected in the water. How different this was when I visited a dump ground in Germany a...

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on hold and impacted economies and people's lives, including those on the move. The socio-economic challenges that the COVID-19 crisis has imposed on labour migration and governments are complex. The labour mobility pilot scheme between Germany and...

The GROWINPRO project brought together eleven international academic institutions and three statistical offices to provide a detailed analysis of the causes of the anaemic growth performance observed in Europe during the last decades and after the Great Recession. On the grounds of such analysis...

Challenges like post-Covid supply chain disruptions, staff shortages, unpredictable political tensions, an energy crisis, and not to forget an impending climate crisis, force organisations to change and adapt continuously. Becoming resilient, sustainable, and innovative requires that organizations...

Economists have long obsessed with efficiency. At the macro- and micro level such things as slack, waste and inefficiency were considered things to avoid and economists have advocated free markets and open competition to eliminate them. In this blog I will argue that we have been too successful, and...

In July 2021, the flooding of small towns and cities in the area between Bonn-Liege-Maastricht caused enormous material damage and human misery. In the Netherlands, Valkenburg was flooded, in Belgium Pepinster was greatly damaged and in Germany the Ahrtal (a touristic wine-growing area) and several...

Why do investors hold Socially responsible investments (SRIs)?

This blog shows insights into a project that examines investors’ true motives for SRI. The researchers conducted a lab experiment to adopt novel methods to elicit investors’ beliefs, ambiguity perceptions, and norm-following...

CEOs of large companies work hard to make their business profitable. Yet they also face ever-increasing societal and regulatory demands to make the company more environmentally and socially sustainable.

Tereza Bauer interviewed fourteen CEOs of Dutch listed companies about their sustainability...

Sustainable employment addresses any action that creates the right conditions for employees to have a long, healthy, and happy career.

The high societal relevance of sustainable employment encouraged MORSE researchers to organize an interdisciplinary workshop to provide a unique platform for...