Department of Economics

PhD Graduates

Testimonials / Job Placement

We take pride in our small-scaled PhD program, which allows us to focus on individual student mentorship. Our PhD students receive a rigorous theoretical and/or econometric training, which opens up excellent employment opportunities. Job placements of recent graduates include the Bank of Canada, Erasmus University Rotterdam, European Central Bank, European Commission, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, University of Münster and VU University Amsterdam.

Hauke VierkeHauke Vierke

Joint PhD in Economics at Ghent University and University of Göttingen, Germany (2015)
Economic Analyst at the European Commission, Brussels

"I initially started my PhD studies in Germany and joined Ghent University as part of a joint PhD agreement. Coming to Ghent was clearly one of the best decisions during my PhD years. The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration offers an excellent environment where young researchers are encouraged to develop and pursue their own academic interests. I have greatly benefited from discussing ideas with senior researchers, but also with other motivated PhD students. Most importantly, people at the faculty made me feel welcome from the first moment on. The administrative staff are very friendly and eager to help international students. Finally, it is easy to fall in love with the beautiful city of Ghent. I highly recommend coming here as an international PhD student."

Andrea AlbaneseAndrea Albanese

Joint PhD in Economics at Ghent University and University of Milan-Bicocca, Italy (2015)
Researcher at Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, Esch-sur-Alzette 

"After beginning my doctoral studies in Italy, I started a joint PhD programme at Ghent University thanks to a scholarship funded by the Special Research Fund (BOF). In the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, I found an outstanding research environment and I immensely learned from its leading professors and senior researchers in the different fields of Economics. Besides the impressive research infrastructures, I greatly benefitted from the extended research network of the Faculty’s researchers, which extends well beyond the Belgian border. Studying at UGent was also fun, thanks to a friendly team of international and local PhD students ready to welcome you. My period at Ghent has been a corner pillar for my career development and, without doubts, I would definitely recommend doing a PhD at UGent."

Graduates per key research area

Latest Graduates

2021

First placement (when available) in parenthesis

  • Bram De Lange, April 2021, State-Ownership and the European Economy
  • Jonas Van der Slycken, March 2021, Beyond GDP: alternative measures of economic welfare for the EU-15

2020 (13)

  • Kevin Hoefman, November 2020, Live Agent-Based Models
  • Elien Meuleman, October 2020, Macroprudential policy, monetary policy and bank stability in Europe
  • Sarmad Zaman Rajper, October 2020, Essays on Prospects of Electric Vehicles in Pakistan
  • Joris Wauters, September 2020, Essays on wage and price inflation 
  • Désirée Vandenberghe, September 2020, The economics of preventive health care
  • Brecht Neyt, August 2020, How decisions in school affect how easily you find a job (and a date)
  • Andres Algaba, August 2020,  Predictive data filters for timely economic and financial decision making
  • Thi Xuan Linh Nguyen, August 2020, Corporate sustainability performance in the emerging East Asian markets
  • Stefanie Vanneste, April 2020, The effect of politics on the financial performance of Flemish local governments (Vlaamse Overheid)
  • Sümeyra Atmaca, March 2020, Institutions and networks
  • Ruben Dewitte, January 2020, Firm heterogeneity in international trade

Former Graduates

2019 (8)

  • Martin Iseringhausen, November 2019, Unobserved components models in macroeconomics and finance
  • Stef De Visscher, October 2019, Measuring total factor productivity and understanding its determinants (KBC, Finance & Risk)
  • Milan van den Heuvel, September 2019, Addressing socioeconomic challenges with micro-level trace data (Ghent University)
  • Bruno Ferreira Albuquerque, June 2019, Household debt, housing cycles, and interactions with monetary policy (Bank of England)
  • Hannes Stieperaere, June 2019, Investor behavior and the effect on financial markets (National Bank of Belgium)
  • Benjamin Schalembier, April 2019, How relative income affects life satisfaction (Flemish Government Department for Work & Social Economy)
  • Frederik Mergaerts, March 2019, Essays in financial economics (De Nederlandsche Bank)
  • Annelies Hoebeeck, February 2019, The tax benefit for mortgage payments : incentive effects and implications for house prices (Flemish Government Department for Finance and Budget)

2018 (7)

  • Vu Ha Phuoc, December 2018, Governance and Firm Efficiency in Vietnam (Danang University of Economics, Vietnam)
  • Thomas Matthys, December 2018, Topics in Financial Economics (Vlerick Business School)
  • Willem Devriendt, October 2018, Coping with Demographic Change: Macroeconomic Effects and Optimal Pension Reform. (IDEA Consult)
  • Ignace De Vos, October 2018, Panel Data Econometrics - Dynamics and Cross-Section Dependence (Lund University)
  • Eva Van Belle, June 2018, Getting Stuck in Unemployment: Pitfalls and Helping Hands. (Université de Neuchâtel)
  • Jasmien De Winne, Februari 2018, The Consequences of Food Price Changes: A Macroeconomic Perspective  (Belgian Foreign Affaires Department)
  • Yelter Bollen, February 2018, The domestic politics of EU trade policy : the political-economy of CETA and anti-dumping in Belgium and the Netherlands. (Université Libre de Bruxelles)

2017 (8)

  • Marco Bernardini, December 2017, Private Debt and Macroeconomic Stability (Bank of Italy)
  • Kevin Lampaert, December 2017, Essays on the FX market microstructure. (Wolters Kluwer)
  • Dinçer Afat, November 2017, Essays on exchange rates. 
  • Angelos Theodorakopoulos, August 2017, Internationalisation and firm performance. (KU Leuven, VIVES - Research Centre for Regional Economics)
  • Brecht Boone, June 2017, Labour Market Imperfections, Expectations and Fiscal Policy in Dynamic Macro Models (E.CA Economics) 
  • Gert Elaut, June 2017, Microeconomics of financial markets. (KBC Asset Management)
  • Ewoud Quaghebeur, May 2017, Expectations and the Macroeconomic Dynamics of Fiscal Policy (Ghent University)
  • Benjamin Vandermarliere, May 2017, A temporal network perspective of collective behavior in economic systems. (Ghent University)

2016 (3)

  • Murat Midiliç, December 2016, Essays on nonlinear time-series modeling and financial markets in emerging economies. (Deloitte Belgium)
  • Yannick Thuy, September 2016, Age, women, and employment: an evaluation. (Planbureau)
  • Garo Garabedian, January 2016, Essays on the procyclicality of financial cycles and the vulnerability of emerging markets. (Central Bank of Ireland)

2015 (9)

  • Andrea Albanese, December 2015, Employment of young and older workers: three policy evaluations. (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research - LISER)
  • Xing Han, December 2015, Essays on market microstructure and liquidity. (University of Otago, New Zealand)
  • Jose Figueroa Oropeza, December 2015, Children's opportunities and impact evaluation. (International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, USA)
  • Stijn Ronsse, December 2015, Explorations in Cliometrics. (Idea Consult; Ghent University)
  • Victoria Purice, October 2015, Multinational activity and firm performance. (University of Groningen)
  • Ruben Schoonackers, September 2015, Empirical Essays on Fiscal Policy, Growth and Consumption (National Bank of Belgium)
  • Samuel Standaert, September 2015, Economic integration and corruption : resolving measurement and endogeneity problems through state-space modeling. (Ghent University)
  • Hauke Vierke, September 2015, Macroeconomics and the Labor Market (European Commission)
  • Ruben Laleman, May 2015, Policies to support the low carbon electricity transition (CRB Centrale Raad voor Bedrijfsleven)

2014 (5)

  • Corinna Ghirelli, December 2014, Unemployment: scars and preferences. (National Bank of Spain)
  • Karolien Lenaerts, December 2014, Firm-level heterogeneity and the demand and supply side of foreign direct investment spillovers. 
  • Martien Lamers, October 2014, Essays on behavior and extreme events. (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Nederland)
  • Selien De Schryder, September 2014, Topics in Monetary Economics (Ghent University)
  • Tim Buyse, June 2014, Public pension and debt policies in general equilibrium, (Flanders Social and Economic Council, research department)

2013 (13)

  • Frederick Van Gysegem, December 2013, Liquidity provision in the interbank foreign exchange market. (Roland Berger)
  • Sietse Bracke, October 2013, Empirical essays on the economics of divorce
  • Daan Isebaert, October 2013, Housing and Labour Market Performance (Flemish Organization for the Social Enterprise Sector)
  • Stijn Baert, August 2013, Transitions in youth : on springboards, waterfalls and bottlenecks. (UGent)
  • Bart Defloor, July 2013, Policy evaluation in a non-welfarist framework. (Hoge School Gent)
  • Nora Srzentić, July 2013, Banking and finance in Central and Eastern European countries
  • Arnoud Stevens, June 2013, Applications in dynamic stochastic general equilibrium macroeconomics (National Bank of Belgium)
  • Valerie De Bruyckere, May 2013, Bank risk, interconnectedness and bank business models. (European Bank Authority)
  • Glenn Schepens, May 2013, Essays in banking. (NNB)
  • Ilse Ruyssen, April 2013, Determinants of international migration. (Université catholique de Louvain)
  • Mustafa Disli, April 2013, Essays on the Turkisch Banking System. (Ghent University)
  • Renaat Van de Kerckhove, April 2013, Public Policy, Employment and Growth in Open Economies (Infrabel)
  • Klaas Mulier, March 2013, Investment, growth and the access to finance of firms: an empirical analysis

2012 (4)

  • Joost Vandenbossche, December 2012, Essays on the partnership problem
  • Benjamin Verhelst, September 2012, Price Rigidity in Europe and the US: Measurement and Explanation using Scanner Data (Roland Berger Strategy Consultants)
  • Marijn Verschelde, June 2012, Nonparametric production and frontier analysis: applications in economics
  • Ine Van Robays, May 2012, The interactions between oil, the macroeconomy and monetary policy (European Central Bank)

2011 (2)

2010 (3)

  • Christa Sys, December 2010, Inside the box: assessing the competitive conditions, the concentration and the market structure of the container liner shipping industry
  • Punnoose Jacob, May 2010, Three essays in dynamic stochastick macroeconomics (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)
  • Lieven Baert, March 2010, The effect of banks on the external finance behavior of firms

2009 (1)

  • Christiane Baumeister, December 2009, Empirical macro models in a time-varying framework (Bank of Canada)

2008 (8)

  • Maarten Dossche, December 2008, Essays on inflation dynamics (National Bank of Belgium)
  • Alexei Karas, December 2008, Essays on the Russian Banking System
  • Bert Vanbergen, October 2008, Are social welfare states facing a race to the bottom?: a theoretical perspective
  • Roeland Bracke, September 2008, New ways of governing environmental pollution from business : voluntary approach from an institutional economic perspective
  • Bart Leyman, September 2008, An economic analysis of creditor behavior in distressed companies
  • Arne Schollaert, June 2008, Civil conflict and its causes
  • Tino Berger, May 2008, Identifying and explaining structural unemployment (University of Münster)
  • Thomas Demuynck, April 2008, Binary extensions and choice theory

2007 (3)

  • Ferre De Graeve, December 2007, Interactions between the real and financial economy (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)
  • Olivier De Jonghe, December 2007, Competition and risk in financial institutions and the implications for financial stability
  • Elsy Verhofstadt, September 2007, Qualitative aspects of entry jobs

2006 (5)

  • Gleb Lanine, December 2006, Topics on modeling risk in transitional economy
  • Sophie Claeys, May 2006, Optimal regulatory design in banking in transition economies
  • Koen Inghelbrecht, May 2006, The comovement of asset returns
  • Dieter Verhaest, May 2006, Overeducation in the labour market
  • Mattias Neyt, February 2006, Economic evaluation of medical innovations

2005 (4)

  • Roland Luttens, December 2005, Essays on non-welfaristic redistribution
  • Bruno Merlevede, May 2005, The effects of economic reform and foreign direct investment on the domestic economy and the domestic companies of Central and Eastern European transition countries
  • Wim Van Hyfte, May 2005, The predictability of bond and stock returns and the implications for portfolio allocation
  • Niko Gobbin, January 2005, Economic growth, income inequality and welfare states

2004 (1)

  • Sabien Dobbelaere, May 2004, An Analysis of Union Behaviour and Wage Formation in a Globalised Word (VU University Amsterdam)

2003 (1)

  • Lorenzo Pozzi, January 2003, Fiscal Policy, Government Debt and Private Consumption (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

2002 (2)

  • Johan Albrecht, April 2002, Institutional and instrumental innovations for environmental policy
  • Tom Verbeke, April 2002, Essays on the international economic order and environmental policy: the opportunities and threats for an open economy

2000 (1)

  • Gerdie Everaert, November 2000, Public Capital, Economic Growth and the Labour Market (Ghent University)