📖 New Publication Alert Out Thursday in Nature Human Behaviour: "Early career researcher-led best practices for social science and behavioural genetics", a new Comment led by our colleague Lyydia Alajääskö and early-career researchers from institutions across Europe.

📖 New Publication Alert Gerton Rongen, Peter Lanjouw and co-authors published a new policy paper in the World Bank’s Policy Research Working Paper series, entitled "Counteracting the Impact of Societal Aging on Income Inequality: A Case Study of Malaysia".

🎙️Researcher Spotlight Last month, postdocoral researcher, Clotilde Mahé, joined a panel of medical professionals organized by the French association Actions Santé Femmes (ASF).

Research Associate Marina Aguiar Palma is visiting Center for the Economics of Human Development - University of Chicago in the spring quarter of 2026. While at CEHD, she will be researching skills formation models with attention to skills measurement and integration of genetics.

We are proud to share that Sander de Vries has successfully defended his PhD—congratulations, Dr. de Vries!

🎙️Researcher Spotlight In late March, Yifu He and @marcjosefwitte.bsky.social each presented their work at the 2026 CSAE conference in Oxford, one of the largest annual conferences on development economics.

This Thursday, April 9, marks the opening conference of the new Amsterdam location of @tinbergeninstitute.bsky.social. The theme is "Science for Society", with sessions on Innovation, Sustainability, Education, Work & Health, and Diversity & Inequality.

Interested in studying economics? Our department offers programs at every level, from bachelor's to research master's. Registration deadlines are coming up soon, so don't wait! Apply now and join us! ➡️ #TeachingMatters #HigherEd #AcademicLife #VUAmsterdam #Economics #StudyEconomics

Sign up for our Summer Courses – The early bird deadline in approaching

📖 New Publication Alert In a recent publication, members of the VU Department of Economics Eric Bartelsman, Sabien Dobbelaere and Alessandro Zona Mattioli investigate how collaborations between workers and firms give rise to valuable tacit knowledge.

VU Art & Science dialogue On Limits and disability On 12 February, Wendy Janssens joined artist Lotte Werkema in the first ART & SCIENCE Dialogue of the exhibition On Limits at the VU ART SCIENCE Gallery.

HIV diagnosis still has major impact on work and income in the Netherlands!

📖 Alumni News (EN) We are proud to share that Hans Vijlbrief, an alumnus of our department, has been appointed Minister of Social Affairs.

A paper by our colleague Ana Figueiredo, co-authored with Olivier Marie and Agnieszka Markiewicz (Erasmus University Rotterdam), has been published in the Journal of Public Economics.

"Mauro Mastrogiacomo co-authored the paper “Fiscal Drag in Theory and in Practice: a European Perspective,” which has been accepted for publication in the European Economic Review. The study analyzes how income inflation increases tax revenues for households across EU countries.

🎓 We’re proud to share that the 2026 Keuzegids Universities has once again named Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) a Top Programme for the third consecutive year, and this time with its highest score ever.

Eric Bartelsman commented on current developments surrounding the independence of the US Federal Reserve in a recent item on BNR.

We are happy to share that Ana Figueiredo has been ranked 8th overall in the Economenparade 2025, published by ESB. She is also the second highest-ranked female economist in this year’s ranking.

🎤 We’re proud to share that Maarten Lindeboom will serve as a Keynote Speaker at the National Conference of the Italian Association of Health Economics (AIES) on 11/12.

📢 Our colleague, Ana Figueiredo, is co-organiser of the 12ᵗʰ Annual Search and Matching Conference, which is coming to Amsterdam! 📅 Dates: May 28–30, 2026

📢 Policy Work We’re proud to share that Mauro Mastrogiacomo has been appointed as a member of a commission established by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO) to propose a reform of the mortgage interest deduction for loans exceeding 30 years.

🎓 What a great start to the teaching semester! During our department drinks last week, several of our PhD students and postdoctoral researchers received Excellence in Teaching Awards.

Our department co-hosted the Dutch Development Economics (DuDE) PhD Workshop at the Tinbergen Institute on Friday, 31st October 2025.

📣 Thinking about studying Economics and Business Economics in Amsterdam? Join us at the VU Bachelor’s Day on Friday November 7 and Saturday November 8 and get to know the Bachelor Economics and Business Economics (EBE) at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Can public attention shape justice? In a forthcoming paper in the American Economic Review: Insights, our colleague @nadineketel.bsky.social (together with Olivier Marie and Kyra Hanemaaijer) explores how sudden surges in media attention, “salience shocks”, influence judicial decision-making.

🎓 Warm congratulations to Dr. Lisa Marie Timm and Dr. Madi Mangan! We are delighted to celebrate that Lisa and Madi have successfully defended their PhD theses!

We kicked off the new academic year with a little friendly competition 🎉. Last week our department swapped roles, answering questions instead of asking them, at a pub quiz! Turns out we’re also experts in storm-themed songs and 90s sitcoms.

How do firms search for and screen workers? When do the best workers match with the best firms?

📢 Policy Work We’re proud to share that Eric Bartelsman has been appointed by the Raad van State as an external member of the Expert Group for Independent Budgetary Oversight (Expertisekring Miljoenennota/Onafhankelijk begrotingstoezicht).

🎙️Media Spotlight Over the last weeks, several major media outlets featured research by our PhD student Sander de Vries on inequality of opportunity in the Netherlands.

👥 Conference Participation and Prize We are thrilled to share that first-year PhD student Thao Le has been awarded the Best Flash Talk and Poster Presentation Award at the 2025 ISMS Marketing Science Conference in Washington D.C.! 🏆

👥 Conference Participation We’re proud to share that José L. Moraga-González, Professor of Microeconomics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, was one of the keynote speakers at the 2025 Lingnan University (Hong Kong) International Conference on Competition Policy and Industrial Organization.

We’re proud to share that Bas van der Klaauw, Professor of Economics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Director at the Tinbergen Institute, was the keynote speaker at the 19th Belgian Day of Labour Economists in Bruxelles.

👥 Conference Organization Our development group organized the 14th Dutch Development Economics (#DuDE2025) Network Conference this year.

How does trade liberalization shape firm behavior? In a recent publication in Industrial and Corporate Change, Sabien Dobbelaere and Quint Wiersma investigate how lowering tariffs, such as those following China’s WTO accession, impacts firms’ product and labor market power.

Do tax breaks attract talent? In a recently published paper in the Americal Economic Journal: Applied Economics, our colleagues Lisa Marie Timm and @mullerpaul.bsky.social, together with Massimo Giuliodori, explore how a Dutch tax exemption scheme influenced international migration.

🎙️Media Spotlight We're proud to congratulate Pierre Koning, full professor of Economics of Social Insurance and the Labor Market at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, on his recent media engagements!

👥 Conference Participation We are proud to announce that Nursena Aksunger, PhD candidate at VU Amsterdam School of Business and Economics, has been selected as one of only three young scientists from the Netherlands to participate in the 8th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting on Economic Sciences!

Welcome! We are dedicated to shaping the next generation of sharp, well-rounded thinkers, while conducting relevant and rigourous economic research. Follow us to: 👥 Meet the team 📚 Explore our latest research 🎓 Get Academic Updates 📸 Get a peek behind the scenes