Tilburg School of Economics and Management

Tilburg University's largest School ranks amongst the top Schools in Europe due to its excellent quality in education and research which contributes to a better understanding of society.

News Archive November 2012


30 November
Interview DNB President Klaas Knot Food for Thought cancelled
The Food for Thought-interview with Klaas Knot, President of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB, Dutch Central Bank), that would be held on December 7, was cancelled due to the weather conditions. The interview has been rescheduled: Klaas Knot will now be our guest on March 1, 2013. 23 November
Jenny Ligthart deceased
On November 21, 2012, Jenny Ligthart, Professor of Macroeconomics, passed away at the age of 45. Although Jenny had been ill for a while, her death came as a shock both for her colleagues and her students. Jenny was a passionate researcher who made major contributions to the development of the economic discipline at a national and international level, especially in the field of macroeconomics and public economics. She was highly involved, scientifically and personally, in assisting PhD students. She was also a great teacher who inspired many students. If you wish paying your respects you can sign the condolence register in room K 432. In Memoriam Jenny.

23 November
Henriëtte Prast in top 200 most influential Dutch people five years in a row
For five years in a row she is one of the 80 people who really pull the strings in the Netherlands: Henriëtte Prast, Professor of Personal Financial Planning at Tilburg University. In the recently published Volkskrant Top 200 Most Influential Dutch People she is ranked 71st. This makes her the fourteenth most influential Dutch woman and one of the 45 women in the ranking. Since the launch of the ranking in 2008, Prast has held changing positions in the top 80 of the list. In 2008 she held position 80, in the following years positions 74, 63 and 52. Prast is not only Professor in Tilburg, but also a member of the supervisory board of the Dutch Financial Market Authority (AFM), non executive board member and member of the audit committee of the Staatsloterij and non-executive board member of Woonzorg-Espria. She is also a member of the curatorium of De Baak Management Centrum VNO/NCW, member of the Monitoring Committee Corporate Governance (committee-Streppel), and member of the Advisory Board of the Actuarial Society.
The full ranking (in Dutch) can be found here.

22 November
Chairman of the Executive Board Koen Becking next guest Food for Thought
Koen Becking, the recently appointed chairman of the Executive Board of Tilburg University, will be the next guest of Food for Thought on November 28. He will be interviewed (in Dutch) by two students of the Tilburg School of Economics and Management on:

  • Tilburg University: future and plans
  • Education: recent developments and future
  • His view on leadership

The interview will be held in small foyer of the Cobbenhagen Building, from 12.45 till 13.30 hours. It is freely accessible to students, employees and other interested people.

13 November
Prize for Master thesis on cannabis use
Ali Palali has won the prize for the best Research Master thesis of 2012 for his thesis 'Coffeeshops and the age of onset of cannabis use in the Netherlands'. The prize was presented during the Dies Natalis on 9 November. The thesis of Ali Palali is an empirical study that relates the presence of coffeeshops at the level of municipalities to the uptake of cannabis by individuals living in these municipalities. In particular, Ali investigated if it mattered whether or not the municipality had one or more coffeeshops at the time the individual was at risk of becoming a cannabis user, i.e. from age 12 onwards. Ali finds that an increase in the number of coffeeshops reduces the age of onset of cannabis use. Gender and ethnicity do not affect the starting rate whereas religiosity of the parents is a significant predictor of the starting age of cannabis use.

9 November
Asset International Conference 2012 on challenging changes in Europe
The time has arrived that we have to deal with one of the biggest economical challenges our world has ever seen. In these times of uncertainty and peril, we need innovative and creative minds to emerge and stand up from the crowd to inspire for change. How will the upcoming changes influence our economy and our living environment? Should the world be restructured? What are alternative scenarios for the future? In short: what will the life altering changes be which will undeniably change the world, and what will be the consequences of these changes for Europe? These are the central questions that will be discussed at the Asset International Conference 2012 Change: New World, New Rules. Shaping Human History, organized on November 13. Among the keynote speakers are former IMF Executive Director and CEPS Chairman Onno Ruding, Holland Financial Centre Chariman Sjoerd van Keulen, IBM Europe Chairman Harry van Dorenmalen and British economist Professor Nicholas Crafts.
More information can be found in the press release (in Dutch and on the conference website

7 November
Thorsten Beck editor of eBook on risks and challenges for European Banking Union
While a banking union for Europe has been discussed by economists since even before the 2007 crisis, the issue has now moved up to the top of the Eurozone agenda. But what kind of banking union? For whom? Financed how? And managed by whom? The new (freely available) Vox eBook Banking Union for Europe - Risks and Challenges comprises 15 papers on the topic by leading economists from both sides of the Atlantic. The line-up of contributors is impressive, including Charles Goodhart (formerly Bank of England and LSE), Luis Garicano (LSE), Viral Acharya (NYU). Also three Tilburg University Professors wrote a chapter in the eBook: Thorsten Beck, Vasso Ioannidou and Wolf Wagner. The book was edited by Thorsten Beck, Professor of Economics and Chairman of the European Banking Center at Tilburg University. The e-book will be officially presented in Amsterdam this week and in Frankfurt, Washington and Reyjavik later this month. Read the eBook.

6 November
Honorary doctorate for Sir Partha Dasgupta
Sir Partha Dasgupta, Professor and research fellow at Manchester and Cambridge University, will receive an honorary doctorate on the occasion of the 85th Dies Natalis on Friday November 9. He will receive the honorary doctorate for his scientific merits.  Sir Partha Dasgupta’s contributions to the theme “economic growth and sustainability “and his contribution to welfare economics in developing countries make him world famous. He is seen as a candidate for the Nobel Prize (together with Martin Weitzman) in the field of environmental and resource economics. Partha Dasgupta was born in India. For his studies he moved to Cambridge, where he developed into a professor at the Faculty of Economics. Throughout his career, he was a visiting professor at various institutes, both in England, the USA and in his home country India. He has never forgotten his roots and has dedicated himself to the challenges of poverty and population in relation to natural resources at, among other institutions, the World Bank and the United Nations.

The Tilburg School of Economics and Management nominated Sir Partha Dasgupta for the honorary doctorate because his research profile fits well with the profile of the School, as sustainability is one of its research topics. Research in this field is hosted at the multidisciplinary Tilburg Sustainability Center, which was initiated in 2009 by TiSEM. Aart de Zeeuw, scientific director and Professor of environmental economics at the Tilburg Sustainability Center, will be the honorary promotor of Sir Partha  Dasgupta on November 9.

More information on Sir Partha Dasgupta
More information on the Dies Natalis

6 November
International SRI expert Lloyd Kurtz next guest Food for Thought
Lloyd Kurtz, lecturer in social investing at Berkeley University and Chief Investment Officer at Nelson Capital Management, will be the first international guest of the Food for Thought season 2012-2013. He will be interviewed (in English) by two Tilburg University students on topics like the importance of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) in today’s financial industry, its challenges and trends, his ideas on the future of SRI in the financial industry in the U.S. and Europe and the necessity of and skepticism towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 
In his area of expertise Lloyd Kurtz manages to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners. His professional career is a prime example of this, as he works not only as an academic, but also as a financial practitioner. At Berkeley University's Haas School of Business he is a lecturer in social investing at the Center for Responsible Business and program director for the prestigious Moskowitz Prize, the global award that is awarded every year to the best research(er) in the field of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). He is also a lecturer in finance at Santa Clara University. Furthermore, he is also an Editorial Board Member of the new web global portal on finance and sustainability, FSinsight.org, for which he writes about key studies in the field of Sustainable and Responsible Investments (SRI). At the same time, he works as Chief Investment Officer at Nelson Capital Management, a Palo Alto money management firm (Wells Fargo). Here he oversees the investment process and manages portfolios for institutional and high net worth clients.

The interview will be held in the Black Box of the Esplanade building, from 13.15 – 14.00. It is freely accessible to students, employees and other interested people.

1 November
Popular artists barely affected by music piracy
The times when a musician who had made it could bring out one album a year or perhaps once every two years and then just sit back and relax are undoubtedly behind us. The possibilities for digitally copying music - in other words, with virtually no loss of quality - are endless. Particularly now that files can be shared quickly and easily on the internet using the P2P protocol, the classical earning model for the music industry is coming under heavy pressure. However, according to researchers Florian Schütt of the Tilburg Law and Economics Center (TILEC) of Tilburg University and Amedeo Piolatto of the Barcelona Institute of Economics, by no means every artist is facing a loss of income as a result of piracy to the same extent. In their paper, 'Music piracy: A case of "The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Poorer"', they conclude that the effects of music piracy vary from one performer to another, depending on how popular they are. Their paper has now been published in Information Economics and Policy.
Read more on Econtrack, the research website of the Tilburg School of Economics and Management (in Dutch)