Lans Bovenberg
Encyclopedia
Arij Lans Bovenberg is an important Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 economist
Economist
An economist is a professional 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...

, known mainly due to his contribution to the Dutch debate on population ageing
Population ageing
Population ageing or population aging occurs when the median age of a country or region rises. This happens because of rising life expectancy or declining birth rates. Excepting 18 countries termed 'demographic outliers' by the UN) this process is taking place in every country and region across...

, pension reforms and public finances. Lans Bovenberg was awarded the Spinoza Prize in 2003.

Education

Bovenberg was born and raised in Oosterbeek
Oosterbeek
Oosterbeek is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is located in the municipality of Renkum, about 5 km west of Arnhem.The oldest part of the village of Oosterbeek is the Benedendorp , on the northern bank of the river Rhine...

 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. Between 1976 and 1981 he studied econometrics
Econometrics
Econometrics has been defined as "the application of mathematics and statistical methods to economic data" and described as the branch of economics "that aims to give empirical content to economic relations." More precisely, it is "the quantitative analysis of actual economic phenomena based on...

 at the Erasmus University
Erasmus University
Erasmus University Rotterdam is a university in the Netherlands, located in Rotterdam. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th century humanist and theologian...

. From 1981 to 1984 he studied at the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

. He obtained his PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

 there at the end of 1984 for dissertation Capital Accumulation and Capital Immobility: Q-theory in a Dynamic General Equilibrium Framework.

Work

After graduation he lived in the USA, working at the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...

. In 1990 he returned to the Netherlands and after a brief period at the Ministry of Economic Affairs he became a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of economics at the Tilburg University and Erasmus University
Erasmus University
Erasmus University Rotterdam is a university in the Netherlands, located in Rotterdam. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th century humanist and theologian...

. Between 1995 and 1998 Bovenberg was deputy director at the Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis
CPB (Netherlands)
The CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis is an independent Dutch government agency founded in 1945 by Jan Tinbergen. It is located in The Hague....

. Since April 2004 he has been scientific director of research institute Netspar, which he has founded.

Bovenberg is considered to be one of the most influential living Dutch economists. He is an independent member of the Dutch government's Social-Economic Council
Social-Economic Council
The Sociaal-Economische Raad is a major economic advisory council of the Dutch government. Formally it heads a system of sector-based regulatory organizations. It represents the social partners trade unions and employers' organizations...

's committee for Social-Economic Policy and Life-Course Policy. In 2003 he won the Spinoza prize, 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
HP/De Tijd
HP/De Tijd is a Dutch weekly magazine, published by Audax Publishing. HP/De Tijd was founded in 1990, after a merger of the Haagse Post and De Tijd. It is conventionally considered to be one of the four most influential written media in its sector, along with De Groene Amsterdammer, Vrij Nederland...

 magazine in 2007. In 2008 Bovenberg got an honorary doctorate by the University of Ghent, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 for his scientific contributions.

The early work of Bovenberg focussed on tax competition
Tax competition
Tax competition, a form of regulatory competition, exists when governments are encouraged to lower fiscal burdens to either encourage the inflow of productive resources or discourage the exodus of those resources...

 in open economies
Open economy
An open economy is an economy in which there are economic activities between domestic community and outside, e.g. people, including businesses, can trade in goods and services with other people and businesses in the international community, and flow of funds as investment across the border...

. Later he contributed on optimal tax
Optimal tax
Optimal tax theory is the study of how best to design a tax to minimize distortion and inefficiency subject to increasing set revenues through distortionary taxation. A neutral tax is a theoretical tax which avoids distortion and inefficiency completely....

es and environmental economics
Environmental economics
Environmental economics is a subfield of economics concerned with environmental issues. Quoting from the National Bureau of Economic Research Environmental Economics program:...

. Recently he focusses on population ageing
Population ageing
Population ageing or population aging occurs when the median age of a country or region rises. This happens because of rising life expectancy or declining birth rates. Excepting 18 countries termed 'demographic outliers' by the UN) this process is taking place in every country and region across...

 and pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...

 economics. In this area Bovenberg advocates more flexible employment contracts, which would allow employees to combine work with care duties and life-long 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. 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
Labor force
In economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce, including both the employed and unemployed.Normally, the labor force of a country consists of everyone of working age In economics, a labor force or labour force is a region's combined civilian workforce,...

 participation in the Netherlands to 80%.

Bovenberg believes that people have 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
Christian Democratic Appeal
The Christian Democratic Appeal is a centre-right Dutch Christian democratic political party. It suffered severe losses in the 2010 elections and fell from the first to the fourth place...

 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, 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
Reformed Churches in the Netherlands
The Reformed Churches in the Netherlands was the second largest Protestant church in the Netherlands until it merged into the Protestant Church in the Netherlands in 2004.-History:...

. 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
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...

.

He is a member of the charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...

 Evangelic Church Jefta in Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...

, which is a part of the Pentecostal denomination Rafael Nederland. Twice a year he preaches in his church. He plans to study theology and become a part time preacher around 2013.

External links

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