Bio

I am a postdoc at the Utrecht University School of Economics. I work on environmental policies and its effects on firms in the Netherlands, with Inge van den Bijgaart. I have a PhD in environmental economics from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (dissertation).

I do research on clean innovation, technology adoption, policy evaluation, and energy and water efficiency. I work with (micro)data and apply econometric methods to answer my research questions.

Research projects

Peer-reviewed publications

Economic performance and investments under emissions trading: Untangling the effects of a staggered regulation

Published in Energy Economics (2025, open access) (link).

with Konstantin Sommer.

Abstract

We study the effects of the EU Emissions Trading System on the economic performance and investments of Dutch manufacturing firms. Motivated both by sizable differences between firms that became regulated in different phases and by a gradual increase in regulatory stringency, we pay close attention to the staggered design of the ETS as well as to potential treatment effect heterogeneity. We base our estimation on recent advances in the estimation of treatment effects and make use of administrative microdata. Our results align with those of the previous literature. Even when studying the more stringent third phase and when using estimators appropriate for the staggered ETS setting, there seems to be no discernible effects of the ETS on firms' economic performance. We also do not find any statistically significant effect on the investment behavior of regulated firms.

The energy efficiency gap and barriers to investments: Evidence from a firm survey in The Netherlands

Published in Energy Economics (2024, open access) (link).

with Sacha den Nijs and Henri de Groot.

Seed money funding by Amsterdam Sustainability Institute (ASI) (€10,000).

In the news (BNR).

Abstract

This study investigates the energy efficiency (EE) gap, referring to private agents who are not making seemingly profitable investments to reduce energy use. We deploy a questionnaire among firms in The Netherlands in which we ask them about investment behavior and barriers to investing in EE. A set of 16 barriers is constructed based on the literature. We find that most firms (70%) have made EE investments in the past five years, and that the median firm has saved 10% of its energy use. The remaining profitable EE investment opportunities still leave room for another 15% of energy savings at the median firm. We find that uncertainty about future policies ranks as the leading barrier to EE investments, followed by lock-ins in current equipment, and energy price uncertainty. Especially energy-intensive firms indicate the importance of policy uncertainty. Additionally, we find that a firm's network can be an important channel for obtaining EE investment knowledge.

Bridging the Nexus: Policy and welfare dimensions in hydro-economic models

Published in Water Resources Management (2026, open access) (link).

with Erik Ansink, Safa Baccour, Juan Pablo Henao, Pietro Sala, Adria Rubio-Martin and Maria Vrachioli.

Abstract

Europe's water resources face growing pressures from climate change and competing demands. Addressing these pressures requires integrated approaches that capture interdependencies among sectors. This paper develops a unified hydro-economic modeling framework that embeds Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem (WEFE) linkages directly into water policy analysis. Unlike existing approaches, the framework systematically combines hydrological processes, economic behavior, and policy instrument design, enabling analysis of cross-sectoral trade-offs and welfare outcomes. Its modular structure makes it suitable for both detailed numerical models and stylized applications. We illustrate its use with two European river basins, the Júcar in Spain and the Upper Main in Germany, showing how water trading and pricing policies can be evaluated within a nexus perspective. These cases demonstrate how the framework operationalizes nexus thinking and provides a transparent, policy-relevant basis for more coherent and resilient water governance.

Works in progress

Induced innovation under competitive pressure

Job Market Paper. Latest version: link.

Available at SSRN (link).

Abstract

As directed technical change has the potential to delink economic activity from environmental degradation, understanding the drivers of environment-related innovation is valuable to policy makers. This chapter empirically investigates two drivers of clean innovation, energy prices and market competition, grounded in the induced innovation and inverted-U literature, respectively. Using a self-constructed dataset, I find evidence of the induced innovation hypothesis, but only when studying energy price changes, and not when studying energy price levels. I also consistently find an inverted-U relationship between competition and innovation, although the relationship is statistically uncertain. When combining the two hypotheses, the results are inconclusive. I do not find consistent and significant evidence that market competition affects the induced innovation effect. While the induced innovation findings are robust against different econometric specifications and estimation methods, they vary depending on whether energy prices are first-differenced or not. The literature would benefit from clarifying which specification is preferred.

Household water savings from home visits: Information, technology and price effects

with Erik Ansink, Carmine Ornaghi and Mirco Tonin.

Presented at World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE) 2026, Lisbon, Portugal.

Preliminary abstract

This paper studies the water consumption choices of households in response to policy interventions by a water utility. We specifically study the effects of home visits and billing changes, and estimate the water-saving effects from information, technology, and prices. Home visits consist of information provision (information) and the installation of water-saving devices (technology). Billing changes migrate households from flat pricing to variable pricing (price), meaning customers start paying per unit of water consumed. Using a staggered difference-in-differences approach we disentangle the three effects. We find a statistically significant effect from home visits (technology and information combined) on water savings of about 200 liters per week, or 10%. Another 100 liters per week are saved due to reductions in leakage. When separating information from devices, we find that toilet devices, tap inserts and showerheads each save 66, 34 and 29 liters per week per device, respectively. We estimate savings of about 50 liters per week from billing changes (price).

Environmental policies and heterogeneous firm performance: Evidence from Dutch microdata

with Inge van den Bijgaart and Giacomo Domini.

Fuzzy firm name matching: Merging Amadeus firm data to PATSTAT

Available as Tinbergen Institute discussion paper (link).

Latest version: link.

Code and results available on GitHub.

Abstract

When merging firms across large databases in the absence of common identifiers, text algorithms can help. This paper proposes an efficient fuzzy text matching algorithm. The algorithm consists of four steps, namely (1) preprocessing, (2) vectorization and similarity scoring to propose candidate matches, (3) evaluation of candidate matches, and (4) disambiguation. The algorithm is applied to merging Amadeus firm financial data to PATSTAT patent data. The algorithm matches 116% more firms from the Amadeus Financials database and 420% more patent applicants from PATSTAT, compared to an exact string match. This drastically improves coverage of innovation behavior.

Subsidizing water trades to internalize ecosystem externalities

with Erik Ansink, Adria Rubio-Martin and Hector Macian-Sorribes.

Het Europese emissiehandelssysteem (book chapter, Dutch)

In Klimaat en Ondernemingsrecht.

with Edwin Woerdman.

Other output

Klimaatbeleid onder druk: beleidscoördinatie urgenter dan ooit

In KVS Preadviezen 2025 (Dutch) (link).

with Inge van den Bijgaart, Carolyn Fischer and Henri de Groot.

Dreigend drinkwatertekort noopt tot vraagreductie

In ESB (4 December 2024, Dutch) (link).

with Erik Ansink.

In the news (BNR).

Technological Progress in the Transition to a Sustainable Economy

PhD dissertation (2025) (link).

Supervised by Carolyn Fischer and Henri de Groot.

Teaching & supervision

Teaching

• 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025: Environmental and Resource Economics (MSc STREEM, VU*)
• 2023, 2024: Geo Data (2 Python computer lab sessions) (BSc minor, VU)
• 2023, 2024: Grand Challenges for Sustainability (BSc minor, VU)
• 2023: Economics of Environmental Policy Instrument Design (MSc STREEM, VU)
• 2019, 2020, 2021: Inclusive Growth and Sustainability (3rd year BSc elective, VU)
• 2019, 2020, 2021: Academic Skills (1st year BSc Economics and Business Economics, VU)
• 2019: Microeconomics IV: Behavioral Economics (MPhil Economics, TI*)

Supervision

• 2026: BSc theses (BSc Economics and Business Economics, UU*)
• 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025: MSc theses (MSc STREEM, MSc Economics, VU)
• 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025: Research Projects (MSc STREEM, MSc Economics, VU)

* VU = Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam; UU = Utrecht University; TI = Tinbergen Institute

Presentations & reviews

Presentations

• World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE) [2026, Lisbon]
• Mannheim Conference on Energy and the Environment (MCEE) [2026, Mannheim]
• UoB-VU Amsterdam Big Data and Economics Research Network (BVRN) [2025, Amsterdam]
• Dutch Environmental and Resource Economics (DEARE) day [2024, Utrecht, Netherlands; 2025, Wageningen, Netherlands]
• International Conference on Ex-Post Evaluation of Emission Trading (LIFE COASE) [2023 online]
• Spanish-Portuguese Association of Natural and Environmental Resources Economics (AERNA) [2022 Barcelona, Spain]
• European Society for Ecological Economics (ESEE) [2022 Pisa, Italy]
• Sustainable Resource Use and Economic Dynamics (SURED) [2022 Ascona, Switzerland]
• Research Retreat "Sustainable Economy - Harnessing innovation, finance and skills for the low-carbon transition" [2022 Morzine, France]
• Environmental Economics workshop (DEARE predecessor) [2022 Tilburg, Netherlands]
• European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE) [2020 online; 2022 Rimini, Italy; 2024 Leuven, Belgium]

Peer reviews

• Research Policy [2026]
• Energy Economics [2025, 2026]
• Water Resources and Economics [2023, 2024]
• Environmental and Resource Economics [2022]

Short CV

Work experience

• 2025-..: Postdoc @ Utrecht University
• 2023-25: Postdoc @ VU Amsterdam
• 2019-23: PhD candidate @ VU Amsterdam
• 2019-19: Teaching assistant @ Tinbergen Institute
• 2019-19: Teaching assistant @ VU Amsterdam
• 2016-17: Trainee @ European Central Bank
• 2013-16: Working student @ ONS Accountants

Education

• 2019-25: PhD @ VU Amsterdam (dissertation)
• 2017-19: MPhil Economics @ Tinbergen Institute
• 2015-17: MSc Economics @ Tilburg University
• 2012-15: BSc Economics and Business Economics @ Tilburg University
• Including an exchange semester @ HEC Montreal

Skills

• Software: Python, R, Stata, LaTeX
• Languages: Dutch (native), English (fluent), German (beginner)
• Other: Presenting, visualization, data analysis