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 and communication. 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

• 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

• Eva Van Belle, June 2018, Getting Stuck in Unemployment: Pitfalls and Helping Hands
• Yannick Thuy, September 2016, Age, women, and employment: an evaluation
• Jose Figueroa Oropeza, December 2015, Children's opportunities and impact evaluation
• Andrea Albanese, December 2015, Employment of young and older workers: three policy evaluations
• Corinna Ghirelli, December 2014, Unemployment: scars and preferences