Research team

Expertise

I do research about history of economic thought, socioeconomic inequality of health, and linear production systems.

Task complexity, framing effects and post-hoc individual-level model analysis in discrete choice experiments. 01/10/2015 - 30/09/2018

Abstract

This project deals with three important issues in discrete choice experiments (DCEs) which are widely used to study preferences for attributes of competing products or services in various areas of economics. To maximize the information content of the data from DCEs, it is crucial to design the experiments optimally. In our search so far, we have focused on improving the statistical quality of DCEs. However, the statistical quality is not the only aspect to consider. The response quality of a DCE is at least as important and depends on whether respondents can answer the choice questions well, that is, whether the choice questions are not too complex. Also, the framing or the labelling of the attributes and attribute levels plays a key role. Positive frames generally stimulate risk-averse responding as opposed to negative frames. Accounting for each of these two difficulties in the design and analysis of DCEs each makes up a part of this project. The designs we aim to construct will score well on overall quality, which includes both statistical quality and response quality. A final part of the project is devoted to post-hoc individual-level discrete choice modelling in which we show how to use individual preferences for market segmentation and the construction of indifference maps.

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  • Research Project

Research on socioeconomic inequalities in health. 01/10/2015 - 30/09/2016

Abstract

This project represents a research contract awarded by the University of Antwerp. The supervisor provides the Antwerp University research mentioned in the title of the project under the conditions stipulated by the university.

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  • Research Project

Design of discrete choice experiments adapted to the respondent's cognitive process. 01/10/2011 - 30/09/2015

Abstract

Discrete choice experiments (DCEs), which involve respondents choosing among alternatives presented in choice sets, are widely used to study preferences for attributes of products or services in various economic fields. To maximize the power of the statistical inference from data from DCEs, it is crucial to design the experiments optimally. Most research in this area focuses on optimizing the design of DCEs under the simplifying assumption that respondents make compensatory decisions. This means that unattractive levels of an attribute can be compensated for by attractive levels of another attribute. However, the assumption of compensatory decision-making often proves to be unrealistic. This research project studies three scenarios in which respondents depart from the compensatory decision rule when making choices: (i) the scenario where respondents ignore attributes in the decision making because there are too many, (ii) the scenario where respondents favor certain attributes because of their position in the description of the alternatives and (iii) the scenario where respondents favor certain alternatives because of their position in the choice set. Pro-actively accounting for respondents' cognitive processes when constructing optimal DCEs in these scenarios will result in more practical designs for DCEs, with applications in marketing, transportation, environmental and health economics.

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  • Research Project

The Effect of Global Financial and Trade Shocks on Growth of Sub Saharan Africa. 01/10/2009 - 30/09/2013

Abstract

This project aims at investigating the impact of global financial and trade shocks on growth and inequality in Sub Sahara Africa (SSA). We assess the ability of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) models to explain the impact of shocks on a typical SSA economy, and examine which modifications are required to make the conventional models applicable to SSA. The modified models will be estimated using data from a sample of SSA countries.

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  • Research Project

On the Crossroads of Catholicism, Mathematics and Economics: The Life and Work of the French Jesuit Maurice Potron (1872-1942). 01/11/2008 - 31/01/2009

Abstract

The main purpose is to make a synthesis of documents from family and public archives concerning the French Jesuit mathematician Maurice Potron (1872-1942). The synthesis will serve both for the English edition of Potron's economic papers, currently under preparation by Christian Bidard and Guido Erreygers (Routledge), and for a more deatailed book in French, by Christian Bidard, on the familial, social historical and religious roots of this remarkable work.

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  • Research Project

Economic Growth, Poverty and Environmental Degradation in Ethiopia. An Analysis of the Effects of Economic Policy by Means of a Village Computable General Equilibrium (VCGE) Model. 01/07/2006 - 31/12/2010

Abstract

This project investigates the relationships between economic growth, poverty and environmental degradation in a village economy of northern Ethiopia. A village social accounting matrix (VSAM) and a village computable general equilibrium (VCGE) will be constructed to perform micro-simulations. The analysis will help to identify which strategies are appropriate to move in the direction of sustainable development.

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  • Research Project

Bernard Chait and the early development of econometrics in Belgium (1930-1960) 01/03/2003 - 31/12/2005

Abstract

Since December 2001 research is started, in collaboration with a Dutch colleague Albert Jolink (Erasmus University Rotterdam), on the almost completely forgotten Antwerp engineer-economist Bernard Chait. The proposed project aims at deepening and rounding off this research, and at publicizing its results to a wider audience.

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  • Research Project

The history of economic thought in Belgium: an exploratory study. 01/01/2001 - 31/12/2002

Abstract

The aim of the project is to do preliminary research for a thorough study of the history of economic thought in Belgium. Different aspects will be highlighted: individual economists, the institutional framework, and dominant schools. An important part of the project will be devoted to the creation of an inventory and the collection of the relevant source materials. A first attempt will be made to structure the material in a way which conforms to the different approaches to the subject.

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    • Research Project

    The Debate on Inheritance Taxes in Italy in Consequence of the proposals of Eugenio Rigano (1870-1930). 01/03/1995 - 31/12/1997

    Abstract

    The Italian E. Rignano played an important role in this debate. His proposal consisted in a differentiation of tax rates according to the number of transfers that the fortune had previously undergone. This study intends to take a closer look at what was written about Rignano in Italy itself.

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      • Research Project

      Transfers of wealth and their fiscal treatment: economic and ethical aspect of existing systems and of potential reforms 30/09/1994 - 31/12/1996

      Abstract

      a. To draw up an inventory of existing and proposed systems of wealth transfers and their fiscal treatment ; b. To analyse the economic and ethical aspects of some important systems an proposals; c. To estimate the effects of changing the existing system of inheritance taxation in Belgium.

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        • Research Project