Essays in Econometrics of Networks
I deal with measurement problems from unobserved economic or social structure. One specific example is how to prevent the spread of flu-like infectious diseases through the Netherlands at minimal social cost when the spread of disease incentivises people to change who they contact (if you and I are going to meet, and I get sick, you might want to meet someone else instead because you do not want to get sick).
Unobserved social structure matters for economic measurement. Trade-offs policymakers in Netherlands face when managing epidemics of flu-like infectious diseases differ significantly because people do change contacts in response to spread of disease at reasonable rate.
I designed tractable optimal targeting problems for lockdowns to mitigate spread of flu-like infectious diseases in the Netherlands allowing for people to adjust contacts in response to spread of disease. This could be used for better disease-management in the Netherlands in the event of a future Covid-like pandemic.
More information on the thesis.