2017
What the Berlin Wall can teach us about mergers
Date: | 15 December 2017 |
Author: | Susanne Täuber |
History suggests that when two groups merge, it doesn’t end well. Academic research has suggested the same. But my experience and research at the Faculty of Economics and Business has allowed me to identify factors that accommodate successful mergers.
Brexit minister David Davis’ sectoral impact assessments - Groningen style
Date: | 12 December 2017 |
The minister might not have done his homework, but our economists have: and they estimate that 2.5 million jobs and 8.5 percent of the UK’s GDP is at risk from Brexit.
Female directors, board committees and firm performance
Date: | 29 November 2017 |
Author: | Colin P. Green and Swarnodeep Homroy |
What effect, if any, does female representation have on board performance? Previous research says none. Our research says otherwise.
Why is the Gender Gap in Education Closing?
Date: | 23 November 2017 |
Historically women have had lower levels of education than men all around the world. But since the mid-20th century the educational attainment of women has grown at a quicker pace than that of men in most countries, leading to a gradual closing of the...
The financialization of healthcare in the Netherlands
Date: | 11 October 2017 |
Author: | Martijn van der Steen |
In the last decade, the Dutch government has embraced a neo-liberal agenda to deal with the rapidly rising costs of public healthcare. As a result, the characteristics of the healthcare sector have changed to include the emulation of a ‘market’ for care,...
It’s about time! A more customer-focused government
Date: | 09 October 2017 |
Government service is often perceived as subpar. People can associate it with long lines, poor service, and unreliability when keeping to deadlines. But in recent years, governments have started to take interest in the idea of treating citizens like...
Damaged goods
Date: | 05 October 2017 |
In my Industrial Organization lectures, I like to talk about Damaged Goods, the now classic article by Deneckere and McAfee. What’s it about? In 1990, IBM introduced a cheaper version of its laser printer. Fifty percent slower, but much cheaper. However,...
The psychology of regulation: ‘involvement’ versus independence
Date: | 02 October 2017 |
Regulators are well aware that management behaviour is largely determined by the corporate culture within an organization. However, in practice, shaping corporate culture is trickier than it sounds. People struggle with questions such as what is an ethical...
Polarised social values harm economic development
Date: | 15 September 2017 |
Author: | Sjoerd Beugelsdijk, Mariko J. Klasing and Petros Milionis |
A striking development in the recent years has been the increased polarisation in terms of values and attitudes that many societies around the world are witnessing. This is noticeable both in public opinion surveys as well as in recent election outcomes....
A turning point in globalisation
Date: | 13 September 2017 |
Why was there a sudden turning point in globalisation in 2011? A new video explains the mystery behind the slow down in global trade compared to economic growth in the wake of the financial crisis.
Interview: Tristan Kohl on international economics and political economy
Date: | 30 August 2017 |
How do you get into a career dedicated to understanding the causes and consequences of trade policy? We spoke to Tristan Kohl, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business. He spoke to us about how he got into academia, his research on...
Interview: Mariann Ollár discusses her research in mechanism design
Date: | 23 August 2017 |
Mariann Ollar has been an assistant professor in the research programme Economics, Econometrics and Finance since 2016. We caught up with her to discuss her forthcoming publication, 'Full Implementation and Belief Restrictions'.
Interview: Yasemin Karaibrahimoglu on financial reporting and corporate governance
Date: | 16 August 2017 |
Yasemin Karaibrahimoglu came back to Groningen after she spent part of her Bachelor studies as an exchange student at the University of Groningen (UG). She is now an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business and is looking forward to...
Interview: Jutta Bolt on her career as an economic historian
Date: | 09 August 2017 |
In December 2016, Jutta Bolt received a Wallenberg Academy Fellowship by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation in Sweden. The fellowship is a prestigious grant of one million euros, comparable to a Vidi-Vici grant of the Dutch NWO. The grant meant that...
Interview Thijs Broekhuizen: coping with digital disruption
Date: | 02 August 2017 |
Digitisation and the rapid development of online and mobile technologies are radically changing existing business models. While some companies struggle to implement disruptive innovations, others become new market leaders overnight. We spoke to Thijs...
Interview: Bernard Nijstad on the relation between creativity and innovation
Date: | 28 July 2017 |
Author: | Neeltje Miedema |
Prof Bernard Nijstad studies the relation between creativity and innovation within organisations. He offers companies in the Northern Netherlands the unique opportunity to participate in his ground-breaking research project. Nijstad: ‘This research...
Interview Bart Los: the harsh truths of Brexit
Date: | 26 July 2017 |
In the debate over whether Britain should leave the European Union, a striking piece of research from the Faculty of Economics and Business made waves internationally.
How to make healthcare more efficient? A tricky problem that affects us all.
Date: | 25 July 2017 |
In the coming years, we will experience an increasing demand on our healthcare systems. This is set to be an even more pressing issue due to population growth and longer lifespans. In practice, it means hospitals will have to treat more patients against...
Interview Ajay Kohli: What is academic impact?
Date: | 19 July 2017 |
Ajay Kohli is the Gary T. and Elizabeth R. Jones Chair and Professor of Marketing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He visited Groningen to give a keynote speech at the European Marketing Academy conference. The theme of this year’s EMAC conference...
Greenmapper: turning research into an app to allow nature-lovers a voice
Date: | 13 July 2017 |
Author: | Peter van Kampen |
Peter van Kampen works at Energysense at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, at the newly developed branch office of UG in Papenburg, and at the Faculty of Spatial Sciences with a research interest in measuring preferences and developing web based or...
What Brexit will do to UK trade
Date: | 21 June 2017 |
Faculty of Economics and Business economists Tristan Kohl, Steven Brakman, and Harry Garretsen analysed what would happen to UK trade after it leaves the European Union.
Solving problems for a clean, local source of energy
Date: | 19 June 2017 |
Author: | Dirk Pieter van Donk |
Bio-diesel promises to be a clean option to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, it is still costly. Often, oil suited for consumption is used for it, putting pressure on food supply. With a rising world population, the idea of using food as a source...
We need a school of public health to tackle the new frontier in medicine: inequality
Date: | 13 June 2017 |
Poorer people have worse health outcomes than richer people. This is true not just in the Netherlands, but internationally. We see the inequality both between countries, and within them. Even when people have the same health care system, poorer people...
The Bank of England must not pump money into the UK economy due to Brexit
Date: | 15 May 2017 |
Author: | Samuele Murtinu |
No sooner had the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union than calls began for the Bank of England to pump money into the economy to avoid deflation.
How an economist predicted today’s politics in 1944
Date: | 11 May 2017 |
Author: | Greg Fuller |
If markets don’t produce outcomes in line with what voters want – and if politicians won’t (or can’t) address those problems – people tend to reach for more radical solutions.
Mind your business process? Mine your data!
Date: | 03 May 2017 |
Data is collected nowadays about anything, at any time, and at any place. The explosion of data is changing the way organizations capture data, analyze information, make decisions, and create value. But how to deal with so much data, and often, messy...
The closure of Multinational Subsidiaries: Is there a silver lining?
Date: | 02 May 2017 |
Author: | Pedro de Faria |
A closure of a subsidiary of a multinational company is an event that has deep economic and societal impact in the affected region, as it often leaves a shadow of unemployment. However, it, according to a recent research project done in collaboration...
Privacy and marketing opportunities can be balanced
Date: | 19 April 2017 |
Author: | Niels Holtrop |
Niels Holtrop explains how he developed a statistical model allowing companies to collect consumer data safely for his doctorate at the University of Groningen's Faculty of Economics and Business.
We should put pressure on PPG to come up with a plan for AkzoNobel
Date: | 07 April 2017 |
Author: | Killian McCarthy |
Imagine a man walks up to a woman and, without introducing himself, proposes marriage. Because the woman doesn’t know the man, and because she has a somewhat different plan for her life, she declines the offer. How many of us would object to her doing so?...
If this isn't fixed we must abandon the euro
Date: | 05 April 2017 |
Author: | Jochen Mierau |
Talk has returned to Greece and its debt crisis. There is no acknowledgement that this situation exists merely due to a flaw in the design of the euro zone. This must be fixed if the currency is to continue -- otherwise the union will merely lurch for...
Why Dutch debt tells us economic growth may be fragile
Date: | 04 April 2017 |
Author: | Dirk Bezemer |
How does the financial sector help, hurt or hinder the economy? My research into this issue builds on the theory of Hyman Minsky (1919-1996), an American economist. He described how over the course of a long financial cycle, investors will shift towards...
Post NL, AkzoNobel and Unilever: Dutch government should play a role in regulating the market for mergers and acquisitions
Date: | 24 March 2017 |
Author: | Killian McCarthy |
The Dutch M&A market is booming. Major Dutch institutions, like PostNL, AkzoNobel and Unilever, have dominated the headlines of late, having all been approached by foreign acquirers looking for new targets. Many observers have been left wondering whether...
Mergers and Acquisitions: Does the Government have a role to play?
Date: | 24 March 2017 |
Author: | Killian McCarthy |
The Dutch M&A market is booming. Major Dutch institutions, like PostNL, AkzoNobel and Unilever, have dominated the headlines of late, having all been approached by foreign acquirers looking for new targets. Many observers have been left wondering whether...
Why bother voting anyway?
Date: | 23 March 2017 |
Author: | Richard Jong-A-Pin and Rasmus Wiese |
Economists Richard Jong-A-Pin and Rasmus Wiese of the University of Groningen's Faculty of Economics and Business describe how moral beliefs, not just monetary considerations, guide voters to take part in elections.
Seven signature areas focused on the major challenges of our time
Date: | 22 March 2017 |
The Faculty of Economics and Business has established seven 'signature areas' to stimulate multi-disciplinary research on major challenges like how to fund health care for an aging population and growing worldwide inequality.
What led Noemi Peters to a career in Groningen?
Date: | 17 March 2017 |
Noemi Peters joined FEB in the fall of 2016 as Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, Econometrics & Finance. Her interest in microeconomics and microeconometrics led her to a tenure track position in Groningen.
What is the 'eigen risico' and why does it exist? An election issue explained
Date: | 13 March 2017 |
A dominant issue in the Dutch election campaign has been healthcare: specifically, the rising cost of the so-called 'eigen risico'. But what does this term mean, and what is the rationale for it? Viola Angelini, an associate professor at the Faculty of...
The effect of automation on our standard of living [video]
Date: | 09 March 2017 |
Author: | Robert Inklaar |
Automation has drastically changed our lives. Mechanical harvesting, robots to build cars, accounting software – numerous dangerous, intricate or boring tasks no longer have to be done by people. But automation also fosters the fear that jobs are...
Retail managers should really know this
Date: | 06 March 2017 |
I have a message for retail managers: the effectiveness of advertising and pricing decisions are not the same throughout the year.
Polarization of the labour market: mainly driven by technological change [video]
Date: | 03 March 2017 |
On Thursday March 2, Gaaitzen de Vries (assistant professor at the University of Groningen and fellow of the Groningen Growth and Development Centre) gave a lecture in the widely watched World Trade Organization's Trade Dialogues Lectures.
Trump on globalisation: correct diagnosis, wrong solution
Date: | 01 March 2017 |
The one issue that United States President Donald Trump has been exceptionally clear about is globalisation. He wants to protect the US economy from outside competition, because ‘jobs have disappeared to China’.
ICT — The Next Catalyst of Innovation and Growth for European Firms
Date: | 22 February 2017 |
Using ICT to innovate is more than investing in computers and software. Systematic strategies must be developed to ensure that ICT investments lead to value creation. Research by John Dong has shown three strategies for firms to successfully innovate with...
The health paradox
Date: | 17 February 2017 |
Health treatments can be found both "cost effective" and "unaffordable". James Lomas, who visited the University of Groningen this month to give a talk on the issue unpicks this apparent paradox in a guest blog for Healthwise.
Thom de Vries on managing coordination in multiteam systems
Date: | 07 February 2017 |
Thom de Vries, assistant professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business, recently published an article on managing coordination in multiteam systems in Academy of Management Journal. We caught up with him to chat about the article 'Managing...
The Sentiment of the 2017 Election Programmes
Date: | 06 February 2017 |
In the politics of recent years, emotion has played an important role, and this will be no different during the Dutch general elections in March. How do political parties deal with emotions? In a recent research project, Harry Garretsen and Janka Stoker...
When the evidence doesn’t add up
Date: | 26 January 2017 |
International development expert Professor Robert Lensink set out to examine a widely-held concept in aid. He found there was little evidence to support it.
Trump: revival or disaster for the US?
Date: | 25 January 2017 |
What will Donald Trump bring by 2021? Bart van Ark, economist of the New York-based The Conference Board and professor at the University of Groningen, analyses the road ahead.
Trump: revival or disaster for the US?
Date: | 24 January 2017 |
What will Donald Trump bring by 2021? Bart van Ark, economist of the New York-based The Conference Board and professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business in Groningen, analyses the road ahead.
How best to regulate companies? Floor Rink investigates
Date: | 22 January 2017 |
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 exposed problems at corporations that helped derail the global economy. Despite their failings, companies fiercely resisted the idea of tighter regulations.
What does this tell us, and is our current model of regulation...
Daron Acemoglu on a robotic future
Date: | 18 January 2017 |
What will happen to jobs as more tasks are done by robots? Will mass unemployment ensue, or will humanity adjust as it has to new technologies in the past? The answer is uncertain, according to leading economist Daron Acemoglu. The MIT professor laid out...
Telling the story of the world economy through data for 25 years
Date: | 09 January 2017 |
The Groningen Growth and Development Centre (GGDC) was founded in 1992 within the Economics Department of the University of Groningen. It recently marked 25 years since its founding, with a jubilee conference on the themes that have long been key to the...