Publications


November 3, 2017

Co-payments in long-term home care: do they affect the use of care?

We study the effect of a policy change in co-payments on the use of long-term home care in The Netherlands. The change increased co-payments for persons with considerable household financial assets. For identification we apply a difference-in-difference analysis with matched treatment and control groups.

October 12, 2017

Premium levels and demand response in health insurance: relative thinking and zero-price effects

In health care systems with a competitive health insurance market, governments or other sponsors (e.g. employers) often subsidize premiums to encourage enrolment. These subsidies are typically independent of plan choice leaving the absolute premium differences in place so as not to distort consumer choice of plan.

October 11, 2017

Preventing NEETs During the Great Recession: The Effects of a Mandatory Activation Program for Young Welfare Recipients

We study the impact of a mandatory activation program for young welfare recipients in the Netherlands. Introduced at the end of 2009, the goal of the program was to prevent so-called NEETs (individuals not in employment, education or training).

October 10, 2017

Analysis economic and budgetary effects of the financial appendix to the Coalition Agreement

This analysis is based on the measures in the financial appendix to the Coalition Agreement, as submitted to CPB on 29 September. Chapter 10 lists the measures included in the analysis.

October 10, 2017

Distributionally Weighted Cost-Benefit Analysis: From Theory to Practice

In CBA practices around the world, benefits are valued regardless of to whom they accrue. This disregards basic economic principles, like declining marginal utility of income, or inequality aversion. This paper argues that if redistribution matters, net benefits must be aggregated using a distributionally weighted CBA.

October 3, 2017

The effect of geographical distance on online transactions: Evidence from the Netherlands

The rise of online trade alters the role of distance between (potential) buyers and sellers. We use data from eBay subsidiary Marktplaats.nl, one of the largest online trading platforms in the Netherlands, to estimate how distance affects the probability of a transaction between small geographical regions.

September 27, 2017

Optimal Income Support for Lone Parents in the Netherlands: Are We There Yet?

The Netherlands witnessed major reforms in income support for lone parents over the past decade. The goals of these reforms were to improve the financial incentives to work and to simplify the system. We consider whether the new system can be considered (closer to) `optimal'.

September 26, 2017

SMOOTHIES: A Toolbox for the Exact Nonlinear and Non-Gaussian Kalman Smoother

In this paper, I present a new toolbox that implements the exact nonlinear and non-Gaussian Kalman smoother for a wide class of discrete-time state space models, including models with implicit functions and equality constraints.

September 26, 2017

Exact Nonlinear and Non-Gaussian Kalman Smoother for State Space Models with Implicit Functions and Equality Constraints

In this paper, I present a novel implementation of the exact nonlinear and non-Gaussian Kalman smoother that can also deal with implicit functions in the measurement and/or state equations as well as equality constraints.

September 20, 2017

The circular economy of plastics: from raw materials to waste

The circular economy aims to reduce the use of raw materials, promote re-use and recycling and limit waste. This study focuses on the circular economy of plastics and investigates what the major problems are in relation to the use of plastics and to what extent government policy is necessary and effective.