Research

Goal and view

Our goal is to do theoretically-informed empirical research in which multinational corporations (MNEs) and their regional and national environment form the core of the object of research. This implies that we often include the MNE’s socio-economic environment in our analyses. As such, a comparative institutional approach is taken by many of our researchers.

The department’s view is that good theory is theory that contributes to dealing more effectively with problems of practice. We promote multi-disciplinary research, but recognize that it is not a goal in itself.

Research center

The department is the research center in the area of global economics and management in the Netherlands, and strives to be recognized as one of the leading centers in Europe. Members of GEM are also actively engaged in popular discussions and the business community. Members of GEM aim to gain external funding for their research, both from private and public parties.

Members of GEM have committed themselves to publish in the best international journals. Our research agenda implies that we do not limit ourselves to a specific short-list of journals, but our strategy is driven by

1. the wish to publish our research at the highest level possible, and
2. the wish to publish in those outlets relevant for the discussion we aim to contribute to.

We not only focus on journal publications, but explicitly also include monographs as potential publication outlets. In some cases books are the most effective way to communicate one’s ideas to the community of scholars. For an overview of the publications of GEM members, please see research output.

Groningen Growth and Development Center

GEM also hosts the world famous Groningen Growth and Development Center (GGDC). Starting with the pioneering work by Angus Maddison on historical data on GDP, Bart van Ark and now Marcel Timmer have developed the institute into a place that is widely recognized as the world leading authority on the development of reliable key economic indicators. In close cooperation with the World Bank, OECD, the Conference Board  and the EU, new projects concern the further development of input output tables for an expanding number of countries.