Martijn was already familiar with VU Amsterdam from his bachelor’s degree, and the combination of a strong economics foundation with a practical policy focus convinced him to return for his master’s.
During the programme, the course Economics of the Welfare State proved especially valuable. "It has been directly relevant to my work, as we provide a lot of advice on socio‑economic policy. I’ve been able to use the course content and assignments multiple times, and I’ve reviewed my notes more than once."
His master’s thesis focused on the impact of second‑hand trade on greenhouse gas emissions. It was later published in the journal Sustainability — a special achievement that also taught him valuable lessons. "Rewriting my thesis for publication showed me how less is more and how important it is to substantiate your arguments."
For Martijn, the programme’s mix of theory, quantitative skills, and policy application is exactly what he now uses in his day‑to‑day work. "When providing policy advice, it’s important to understand both the theory and the empirical evidence. Theory helps to see possible effects of a policy, but it’s only the first step, you then need to test this with research, whether your own or existing studies. For example, you might argue that minimum wages increase unemployment, but you should always check the empirical literature: do we actually see these effects, and how large are they?"
At EBA, Martijn works closely with policymakers on economic policy recommendations, policy evaluations, and model‑based analyses. His work involves literature research, data analysis, reporting, interviews, and occasionally publishing opinion pieces in the media on economic topics.
His advice to prospective students? "I would definitely recommend this programme, it’s a true economics programme with many interesting and applicable courses. I also really enjoyed the atmosphere: despite the coronavirus pandemic, my fellow students and I were closer than we were during my bachelor’s."
