Research interests

Our research is focused on two complementary research fields: labour and welfare economics. Within these fields our aim is finding responses to “real world” societal questions within a rigorous framework. Our analysis is both empirical and theoretical. While most of our research is grounded in economics, a substantial fraction of our research relies on collaborations with researchers from other disciplines, such as psychology, sociology, communication and public administration. Main topics of research include, among others, policy evaluation, unemployment, the transition from school to work, discrimination, work and health, inequality, income mobility, optimal taxation and the measurement of (individual) welfare and well-being. 

Key publications

• Simon Amez , Sunčica Vujić, Lieven De Marez and Stijn Baert (2022). Smartphone use and academic performance : first evidence from longitudinal data. New Media & Society
• Marie Boltz, Bart Cockx, Ana Maria Diaz and Luz Magdalena Salas (2022). How does working‐time flexibility affect workers’ productivity in a routine job? Evidence from a field experiment. British Journal of Industrial Relations

• l'Haridon, Olivier, Ferdinand M. Vieider, Diego Aycinena, Agustinus Bandur, Alexis Belianin, Lubomir Cingl, Amit Kothiyal, and Peter Martinsson (2018). Off the Charts: Massive Unexplained Heterogeneity in a Global Study of Ambiguity Attitudes. Review of Economics and Statistics 100(4), 664-677​

• Baert, S. (2018): Facebook profile picture appearance affects recruiters’ first hiring decisions. New Media & Society, 20, 1220-1239.
• Cockx Bart, Muriel Dejemeppe, Andrey Launov and Bruno Van der Linden (2018), "Imperfect Monitoring of Job Search: Structural Estimation and Policy Design", Journal of Labor Economics, 36(1), 75-120
• Ramos, X. and D. Van de gaer, 2016, "Approaches to Inequality of Opportunity: Principles, Measures and Evidence", Journal of Economic Surveys, 30 (5), 855-883.
• Verhofstadt, E., Van Ootegem, L., Defloor, B. & Bleys, B. (2016). Is there a trade-off between individuals’ subjective well-being and their ecological footprint? Ecological Economics, 127 (7), 80–89
• Van Ootegem, L. & Verhofstadt, E. (2015), Perceived capabilities as an aggregated indicator for well-being, Applied Research in Quality of Life, 10(4): 615-629

Recent PhD graduates

_{First or current placement (when available) in parenthesis}

• Hannah Van Borm, November 2021, An Arab, a woman, and an old guy walk into a job interview: Examining explanations for discrimination in hiring
• Simon Amez, July 2021, Scroll, study, sleep, repeat! Examining the toxic love triangle between smartphone use, sleep quality and academic performance
• Brecht Neyt, August 2020, How decisions in school affect how easily you find a job (and a date) (UGent) 
• Stefanie Vanneste, April 2020, The effect of politics on the financial performance of Flemish local governments (Vlaamse Overheid)
• Haya Al-Ajlani, January 2020, Well-being and state fragility : a non-paternalistic approach to well-being, a conceptual index of state fragility, and their relation
• Benjamin Schalembier, April 2019, How relative income affects life satisfaction (Flemish Government Department for Work & Social Economy)
• Lieze Sohier, December 2018, Involuntary employment and well-being of older workers and retirees
• Eva Van Belle, June 2018, Getting Stuck in Unemployment: Pitfalls and Helping Hands (Université de Neuchâtel)
• Yannick Thuy, September 2016, Age, women, and employment: an evaluation (Planbureau)
• Jose Figueroa Oropeza, December 2015, Children's opportunities and impact evaluation (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, USA)