Personal profile

Personal information

Henri de Groot (1971) is currently professor in Regional Economic Dynamics at the Department of Spatial Economics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and also affiliated to Ecorys (Rotterdam). Since 2002, he is a fellow of the Tinbergen Institute, he is academic partner of the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, and since December 2015, he is crown-appointed member of the Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (SER). He studied Economics at Tilburg University and graduated in 1994 (cum laude). In 1998, he obtained his Ph.D. from Tilburg University with a dissertation on economic growth, unemployment and the sectoral composition of economies. Subsequently, he was affiliated as a post-doc at the Department of Spatial Economics of the VU University Amsterdam and later as an assistant professor (from 2002–2004) and associate professor (from 2004–2010). 

He is (co-)author of more than 90 publications in international peer reviewed journals and in edited volumes published by renowned international publishing houses, in addition to more than 60 peer-reviewed and popular publications in Dutch. Furthermore, he is (co-)author of several books, edited volumes and special journal issues. He is associate editor of Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences and regular reviewer for many peer-reviewed international journals.

Research

His current research deals with the empirics of regional economic growth, agglomeration and trade, energy and environmental economics, urban economics, technology adoption and meta-analysis. He has been involved in various research projects for the European Commission, the World Bank, the Dutch Science Foundation, Dutch ministries and several municipalities. He has also worked on several projects in cooperation with the CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis, dealing with climate change, European welfare states, the effectiveness of the European Cohesion Policy, the scenario study ‘Four Futures’, several projects on the impact of globalization and the study ‘Stad en Land’. He has frequently presented research papers at a wide range of international conferences for economists, regional scientists and policy makers, including those of the European Economic Association, the Netherlands Network of Economics, and the Regional Science Association International. He has also been a visitor of Christian Michelsen Institute (Bergen), the Norwegian Business School (Bergen) and the World Trade Organization (Geneva). 

Teaching

Since October 2002, he is strongly involved in the development of the BSc programme in Economics and Business Economics at the VU University Amsterdam, of which he is currently program director. He has also been strongly involved in the development of the BSc Programme ‘Aarde en Economie’ and the MSc Programme in ‘Spatial, Transport and Environmental Economics’. He has extensively taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate level in microeconomics, macroeconomics, urban and regional economics, the empirics of economic growth, meta-analysis and empirical research methods. He is advisor of numerous MSc and PhD students. He currently teaches courses in Regional and Urban Economics, Microeconomics, and Globalization and Transaction Costs.

Ancillary activities

  • Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) | Den Haag | Lid Adviesraad 'Regionaal Economische Statistieken' | 2013-01-01 - present
  • Sociaal Economische Raad (SER) | Den Haag | Kroonlid | 2016-01-01 - present
  • JTF IJmond | Rotterdam | Lid deskundigencommissie | 2023-01-01 - present

Ancillary activities are updated daily

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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