Research Master students Hullegie and Mierau receive Netspar scholarship

SOM Research Master students Patrick Hullegie and Jochen Mierau have received a Netspar scholarship of 3000 euros. Netspar is the national Network for Studies on Pensions, Aging and Retirement, located at the University of Tilburg. The students received two of the four nationwide scholarships that were granted. The scholarships can be spent on their Master's Thesis on issues related to the economics and finance of aging.

The scholarships are also a first step towards a Netspar PhD-position. That is, Netspar will also sponsor these students for a three year PhD-project, provided that, among other, they complete the Masterprogramme with a grade point average of at least 7.5/10.

The Netspar board selected candidates on the basis of the quality of the student (as indicated by grades, reference letters, et cetera) and the quality of the research proposal and its relation to Netspar’s goals.

Models closer to reality
Jochen Mierau’s reserach, under the supervision of prof. dr. Ben Heijdra, will focus on improving economic models; whereas current economic models assume that families act as though they where one, Mierau’s model will treat the household as a union of members that makes decisions through a game-theoretic approach. Introducing this interaction between household members brings economic models closer to reality.

Heath gap
The research of Patrick Hullegie, under supervision of Professor Peter Kooreman, will focus on explaining the health inequalities in the older population. In several studies a health gap between the rich and the poor is found. Besides, it might even be the case that recent changes in European policy increase this health gap.

Since the prevalence of health problems in the lower socio-economic groups is likely to result in higher healthcare utilisation health costs will increase and governments will have problems financing their healthcare systems. From a policymaker's perspective it is therefore interesting to know what determines the health gap between the rich and the poor, in order to be able govern healthcare costs.