Publications

In this paper we show that the prediction errors for unemployment vary over the business cycle. We initially use a macroeconomic data for the United States, because these data are available for a longer period than for... →

We find that while child care availability is correlated with lower child penalty, the immediate short-term causal effect of increasing child care availability on the earnings penalty of becoming a mother is small. By taking advantage of variation in gender norms in different population groups, we show that gender norms are strongly correlated with child penalty for mothers. →

The increase in the statutory retirement age reduced the number of pensioners. About one third of this drop results in additional employment. Net savings for the government are about 80% of direct savings on retirement... →

We typically do not find statistically signicant evidence of bunching around kinks or notches, neither in income nor in wealth. →

The Netherlands witnessed major reforms in the taxation of (potential) secondary earners over the past decade. Using the inverse-optimal method of optimal taxation we recover the implicit social welfare weights of single- and dual-earner couples over time. The social welfare weights are grosso modo well-behaved before the reforms. →

We study the effect of the reduction in the VAT rate on services by hairdressers from 17.5 to 6 percent in the Netherlands in January 2000. →

We study the impact of a mandatory activation program for young welfare recipients in the Netherlands. Introduced at the end of 2009, the goal of the program was to prevent so-called NEETs (individuals not in employment, education or training). →

The Netherlands witnessed major reforms in income support for lone parents over the past decade. The goals of these reforms were to improve the financial incentives to work and to simplify the system. We consider whether the new system can be considered (closer to) `optimal'. →

Policymakers are concerned about potential underinvestment in lifelong learning. In this paper we study to what extent a tax deduction helps to stimulate post-initial training. →