PhD Defence: Essays on the Intersection of Economics and Biology
Economists have always been adept at integrating ideas and concepts from other scientific fields into their own research agenda. ‘Essays on the Intersection of Economics and Biology’, by Niels Rietveld, adopts a perspective in which individual economic choices and outcomes are connected to individual biological characteristics. Thus, the thesis contains research on the intersection of economics and biology, an interdisciplinary field that is called ‘biological economics’.
There are many examples that show how economics and biology have mutually influenced each other through history. For example, the thoughts of the economist Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) about the limits of population size in the presence of food scarcity led to Charles Darwin’s (1809-1882) idea of evolution by natural selection in the struggle for life. Conversely, the biological concepts of mutation and selection have been used to explain cross-temporal changes of economic agents and the economy as a whole.
This thesis finds that genetic variants explain an important part of the population variance in educational attainment, cognitive function, subjective well-being and entrepreneurship. Moreover, specific genetic variants associated with educational attainment, cognitive function and entrepreneurship are identified. This thesis finds also that entrepreneurs are generally healthier than wage-workers, and that the selection of comparatively healthier individuals into entrepreneurship accounts for the positive cross-sectional association. Finally, it provides empirical evidence that dyslectic and left-handed individuals are not more likely to be(come) entrepreneurs than non-dyslectic and right-handed individuals.
The work in this thesis results mainly from the ongoing collaboration between the Erasmus School of Economics and the Erasmus Medical Center. I believe that the growth of biological economics depends strongly on the degree of cooperation between individual economists and biologists. Formal structures, such as the recently founded Erasmus University Rotterdam Institute for Behavior and Biology (EURIBEB), are also needed to nurture the development of this interdisciplinary field, for example by developing specialized courses in biological economics.
Niels defended his dissertation in the Senate Hall at Erasmus University Rotterdam on Thursday, 2 October 2014. His supervisors were Professor Roy Thurik, Professor Philipp Koellinger, Professor Patrick Groenen and Professor Albert Hofman. Other members of the Doctoral Committee were Professor Han Bleichrodt (ERIM), Professor Henning Tiemeier (Erasmus MC) and Professor Dinand Webbink (ESE).
Rietveld’s PhD research project was conducted within the Erasmus Doctoral Programme organised by Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), the joint research institute of Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) and Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) of the Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR).
About Niels Rietveld
Cornelius Antonie (Niels) Rietveld (1988) completed his grammar school education at the Wartburg College in Rotterdam in 2006. He graduated cum laude in Econometrics and Management Science at the Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, in 2010. He then started his PhD research at the department of Applied Economics of the same university under the supervision of professors Roy Thurik, Philipp Koellinger, Patrick Groenen, and Albert Hofman.
His research focuses on the identification of biological predispositions, correlates and consequences of economic behavior, particularly entrepreneurship. His work has been published in the international peer-reviewed journals Health Economics, PLOS ONE, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, Psychological Science, Science and Small Business Economics, amongst others. He has presented his work at various international conferences including the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference and the Behavior Genetics Association Meeting. In 2014 he received the CHARGE “Early Career” Tiger Award. Niels is continuing his career as a postdoctoral researcher at the Erasmus School of Economics.
Abstract of Essays on the Intersection of Economics and Biology
Economists have always been adept at integrating ideas and concepts from other scientific fields into their own research agenda. This thesis adopts a perspective in which individual economic choices and outcomes are connected to individual biological characteristics. Thus, this thesis contains research on the intersection of economics and biology, an interdisciplinary field that is called ‘biological economics’.
Knowledge about biological predispositions to economic choices and outcomes improves our understanding of the causes and consequences of individual differences. Biological measures known to be associated with economic choices and outcomes could be used in (otherwise non-biological) empirical work as control variables or instrumental variables. Information about economic predisposition to biological states and outcomes may result in targeted interventions to prevent undesired outcomes.
This thesis finds that genetic variants explain an important part of the population variance in educational attainment, cognitive function, subjective well-being and entrepreneurship. Moreover, specific genetic variants associated with educational attainment, cognitive function and entrepreneurship are identified. This thesis finds also that entrepreneurs are generally healthier than wage-workers, and that the selection of comparatively healthier individuals into entrepreneurship accounts for the positive cross-sectional association. Finally, it provides empirical evidence that dyslectic and left-handed individuals are not more likely to be(come) entrepreneurs than non-dyslectic and right-handed individuals.
Photos: Chris Gorzeman / Capital Images
