Arij Lans Bovenberg (born June 15, 1958) is a Dutch

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

, and Professor of Economics at the

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilburg University h ...

and Erasmus University, known mainly due to his contribution to the Dutch debate on population ageing, pension reforms and public finances. Lans Bovenberg was awarded the

Spinoza Prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

in 2003.

Biography

Bovenberg was born and raised in

Oosterbeek Oosterbeek is a village in the eastern part of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Renkum in the province of Gelderland, about west of Arnhem. The oldest part of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp (Lower Village), on the northern bank ...

in the Netherlands. Between 1976 and 1981 he studied

econometrics Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

at the Erasmus University.

Teun Kloek Teunis (Teun) Kloek (born 1934) is a Dutch economist and Emeritus Professor of Econometrics at the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam. His research interests centered on econometric methods and their applications, especially nonparametric and robust ...

supervised his MSc thesis (doctoraalscriptie) From 1981 to 1984 he studied at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. He obtained his PhD in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

there at the end of 1984 for the dissertation entitled ''Capital Accumulation and Capital Immobility: Q-theory in a Dynamic General Equilibrium Framework''. After graduation he lived in the US, working at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glo ...

. In 1990 he returned to the Netherlands and after a brief period at the Ministry of Economic Affairs he became a professor of economics at the

and Erasmus University. Between 1995 and 1998 Bovenberg was deputy director at the

Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis The Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis ( nl, Centraal Planbureau, CPB, literal translation: Central Planning Bureau) is a part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy of the Netherlands. Its goal is to deliver economic analysis an ...

. Since April 2004 he has been scientific director of research institute Netspar, which he has founded. Bovenberg is an independent member of the Dutch government's

Social-Economic Council The Social and Economic Council ( Dutch: ''Sociaal-Economische Raad'', SER) is a major economic advisory council to the cabinet of the Netherlands. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organisations. It represents the social pa ...

's committee for Social-Economic Policy and Life-Course Policy. In 2003 he won the

Spinoza prize The Spinoza Prize ( nl, Spinozapremie) is an annual award of 2.5 million euro, to be spent on new research given by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The award is the highest scientific award in the Netherlands. It is named after the philosopher ...

, which allowed him to start the Netspar research institute. Also thanks to these activities he was declared to be one of the 100 most influential Dutchmen by HP/De Tijd magazine in 2007. In 2008 Bovenberg got an honorary doctorate by the

University of Ghent Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

for his scientific contributions. In 2009 he was elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Bovenberg was elected member of

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europea ...

in 2010.

Work

The early work of Bovenberg focussed on

tax competition Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments use reductions in fiscal burdens to encourage the inflow of productive resources or to discourage the exodus of those resources. Often, this means a governmental strategy ...

in open economies. Later he contributed on

optimal tax Optimal tax theory or the theory of optimal taxation is the study of designing and implementing a tax that maximises a social welfare function subject to economic constraints. The social welfare function used is typically a function of individual ...

es and

environmental economics Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical or ...

. Most recently he focussed on population ageing and pension economics.

Population ageing and pension

In the area of population ageing and pension Bovenberg advocates more flexible employment contracts, which would allow employees to combine work with care duties and lifelong learning. To keep older workers in the labor force, he suggests to offer them more vacation and shorter working hours. He is the architect of the Dutch Life Course Saving Scheme, which allows workers to save parts of their income to finance longer period of leave.

Labour Participation

In 2008 Bovenberg was a member of the Commission Labour Participation, led by P. Bakker. The commission advised the Dutch government on how to increase

labor force The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

participation in the Netherlands to 80%.

Christian Democratic Appeal

Bovenberg believes that people have to be given incentives to make full use of their capacities and that people also have duties, not only rights. He argues that also disadvantaged social groups should be expected to participate to work. He is often considered to be a

Christian Democratic Appeal The Christian Democratic Appeal ( nl, Christen-Democratisch Appèl, ; CDA) is a Christian-democratic political party in the Netherlands. It was originally formed in 1977 from a confederation of the Catholic People's Party, the Anti-Revolution ...

ideologist, but he himself states that his view (partly) differs from those of the party in some areas. Together with other Dutch economists like Johan Graafland and

Eric van Damme Eric Eleterius Coralie van Damme (born 27 July 1956CURRICULUM VITAE E ...

, he thinks about the connection between Christian thinking and economics.

Personal

Lans Bovenberg is married and father of two children. He was originally a member of the

Reformed Churches in the Netherlands {{Infobox Christian denomination , name = Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (Dutch ''Gereformeerde Kerken in Nederland'') , image = , caption = , main_classification = Protestant , orientation = Calvinist , polity = Presbyterianism , ...

. When he lived in the United States, he was touched by the faith and the practical living of evangelic Christians. When he returned to the Netherlands he became a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

. He is a member of the charismatic Evangelic Church Jefta in Breda, which is a part of the Pentecostal denomination Rafael Nederland. Twice a year he preaches in his church.One of Bovenberg's sermons
/ref> He plans to study theology and become a part-time preacher around 2013.

References

External links

Balancing work and family life during the life course
a policy paper)
Bovenberg's Letter to God (in Dutch)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bovenberg, Lans 1958 births Living people Converts to Pentecostal denominations Dutch economists Environmental economists Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Members of Academia Europaea Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Renkum Spinoza Prize winners Academic staff of Tilburg University United Pentecostal and Evangelical Churches members UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni