There is an abundance of research into the behaviour of airline passengers in the literature: willingness-to-pay for various services is a popular topic, also among students writing their final theses. Another research topic chosen by students in the last year concerns the ‘white spots’ and ‘grey spots’: the destinations not yet offered, and the destinations…

The department annually contributes to the Economic Outlook of the Amsterdam Metropolitan Region. This publication is intensively used as an evidence base for developing policies in the region. Presentations for diverse audiences of mayors and alderman, entrepreneurs, and local and regional policy makers contribute to a lively debate about the future of the region. The…

Nowadays it’s almost impossible to find a free parking spot in the large cities of the Netherlands. The main goal of paid parking is to reduce the demand for the limited amount of available parking space, which makes it easier for car drivers to find a vacant parking spot and leaves more space available for…

The number of passengers increases rapidly at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. To keep up with this growth, the airport invests 36 million euro in a temporary departure hall. Low cost carriers, such as Ryanair and Easyjet, are largely responsible for this growth. Does the growth of low cost carriers cause more competition between airlines? As part…

A city is a thriving organism composed of high densities of people, mostly strangers, which live and interact in a complex series of direct and indirect exchanges. In the past urban policies often aimed to develop monofunctional neighbourhoods, where people and different types of jobs (e.g. manufacturing, business services and retail) were separated. However, in…

The last two decades have witnessed an extraordinary expansion in global mining activity, an increasing share of which was concentrated in emerging markets. The world’s largest mines can nowadays be found in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This mining boom has reinvigorated the debate about the impact of mining on economic activity and welfare in…

Ethnic diversity in the Netherlands is increasing. Urban areas have traditionally been the most diverse. Growing ethnic diversity at the national and regional level does, however, not necessarily translate into multicultural neighbourhoods in cities. At the neighbourhood level, concentration of specific ethnic groups seems to be the more dominant trend. This evokes the question whether…

The quality of social housing leaves much to be desired, as a recent report by the NOS points out. There are plans to heavily invest in renovation of social housing. From 2007 to 2012, government and housing associations already invested more than 1 billion – in addition to the regular investments – in the 83 poorest…

Biofuels help reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. In their attempts to meet agreements on limiting greenhouse gas emissions, governments subsidize farmers to grow bioenergy crops. However, current ways of subsidizing farmers in the EU are not optimal. Conventional crops receive large amounts of funds, while upcoming technologies such as biofuel production receive relatively little…