Alumni overview

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Our MERIT alumni leave the Masters in Public Policy and Human Development and/or PhD programme to pursue successful careers all over the world. As an alumn, you not only get a chance to stay involved with MERIT by potentially featuring as a guest lecturer in a course, participating in a conference or research project, or joining our Alumni Committee team, you can help more recent alumni increase their success in their field. Explore the ways you can participate in the alumni community and UNU-MERIT initiatives:


The Alumni Office
The UNU-MERIT Alumni Office connects the alumni (PhD and MPP), current students, and UNU-MERIT. It aims to strategically strengthen its network of MERIT policymakers through targeted projects, initiatives, and resource-sharing for the purpose of strengthening alumni careers and alumni investments in UNU-MERIT. The engagements of the Alumni Office are focused on career building and knowledge sharing for alumni; networking between alumni, students, and practitioners; and opening alumni partnerships with UNU-MERIT.




Through content curation for high-level Forum events, I bring together different stakeholders for topical discussions on addressing the world’s most pressing issues from a variety of different perspectives in order to find constructive solutions through multi-stakeholder dialogues.

Nga Leopold,
Event Editorial Specialist, The World Economic Forum, Geneva

Social protection is a human right, but most of the world’s population lacks access to it. At the ILO, I support countries to develop policies and measures to extend the coverage, adequacy, and sustainability of their social protection systems, helping to guarantee that everyone can access these essential schemes.
André F. Bongestabs,
Social Protection Officer at the International Labour Organization

Development is often equated with economic growth, which tends to be selective as to whom it benefits. Families, communities, and countries that already have suffered from inequalities are mostly left behind. As an NGO leader, I work towards inclusive societal change by shifting power to community-based organizations and amplifying the voices of social movements.
Joshua Hofert,
Head of Programs and Policy, terre des hommes Germany - Help for Children in Need





Alumni news

LED there be light: The evolution in LED technology and dynamics of entry into the LED lighting market

Our ‘Dual Focus PhD’ series tracks the working lives of our part-time PhD fellows. Many work at the highest of levels, both nationally and internationally, and they come to Maastricht in person for our part-time PhD programme on Innovation, Economics, Governance and Sustainable Develo...
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UNU-MERIT Champions Women In and Outside the Classroom

A joint post by Dr Julieta Marotta & Abigail Daley “Because women have an incredible amount of power that should not be ignored when it comes to building a sustainable future.” International Women’s Day gives us a yearly moment to reflect on gender equality and remind ourselves of...
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Master’s alumna wins best thesis award at Dutch Demography Day

Our Master’s alumna Claire Tan Sze Eng has won the best thesis award at the Dutch Demography Day 2021 for her dissertation entitled, ‘Returning to a home without a future: The effect of migrant trajectories and experiences on the reintegration of Albanian rejected asylum-seekers’. Bas...
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PhD Defences

Name: Mariajose Silva Vargas
Thesis: Beyond Boundaries: Integrating Refugees and Consolidating Farmland. Essays in experimental and development economics
Year: 2024
Promotor(s): Eleonora Nillesen and Jonathan de Quidt

Name: Maria Collazos Ortiz
Thesis: NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:HOW DOES A CHANGE IN THE SHARING FORMULA AFFECT THEIR FISCAL BEHAVIOR? EVIDENCE FROM THE REFORM TO THE ROYALTIES LAW IN COLOMBIA
Year: 2024
Promotor(s): Eleonora Nillesen, Arjan Schakel & Pui Hang Wong

Name: Julia Reinold
Thesis: Essays on Attracting and Retaining Highly Educated Migrants
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Melissa Siegel, Rene Belderbos & Mariska van der Giessen

Name: Fauzan Ansyari
Thesis: Teacher professional development interventions to promote data use in education
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Wim Groot & Kristof de Witte

Name: Chuks Otioma
Thesis: Information and Communications Technology Capabilities, Innovation and Economic Performance in Africa: The Role of Framework Conditions, Entrepreneurial Activity and Firm Learning
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Fred Gault & Lili Wang

Name: Nordine Es-Sadki
Thesis: Technology Transfer in Europe An economic analysis of formal technology transfer activities of universities, research institutes and firms
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Rene Wintjes

Name: Casty Njoroge
Thesis: Land Reforms: Impact of Land registration on Agricultural productivity
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Cathal O'Donoghue and Paul Killgariff

Name: Musa Hasen Ahmed
Thesis: Essays on Development Economics: Climate Change, Education and Development
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Franziska Gassmann and Stephan Dietrich

Name: Cintia Denise Granja
Thesis: International Student Mobility and Attitudes Towards Inequality
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Eleonora Nillesen, Ana Maria Carneiro, Robin Cowan & Fabiana Visentin

Name: Charlotte Mueller
Thesis: Diaspora Return Visits for Knowledge Transfer and Capacity Development: A Case Study of IOM’s Connecting Diaspora for Development Project in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone and Somaliland
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): Melissa Siegel & Katie Kushminder

Name: Sophie Gysan
Thesis: Strategy Implementation and Decision Making in the Broader MNC Network
Year: 2023
Promotor(s): John Hagedoorn & Hans van Kranenburg

Name: Emanuela Sirtori
Thesis: LED there be light The evolution in LED technology and dynamics of entry into the LED lighting market
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & René Belderbos

Name: Godsway Tetteh
Thesis: The Economic Outcomes of Financial Innovation and Digital Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen, Micheline Goedhuys and Maty Konte

Name: Hiwot Mesfin
Thesis: Essays on Human and Social Capital Formation
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Eleonora Nillesen, Francesco Cecchi and Nyasha Tirivayi

Name: Radhika Mia
Thesis: Firm Innovation Strategies in Alternative Energy Systems
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & René Wintjes

Name: Francesco Iacoella
Thesis: The Changing Role of Communication Technology in Reproductive Health: Essays from Sub-Saharan Africa
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Franziska Gassmann and Nyasha Tirivayi

Name: Francesca Rubiconto
Thesis: Technical change, competitiveness, and employment. A sustainable perspective
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Roberto Fontana

Name: Ngoc Pham Quang
Thesis: Essays on Technical Change and Efficiency in a Transition Economy: The Case of Viet Nam
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Neil Foster-McGregor and Pierre Mohnen

Name: Erich de la Fuente
Thesis: Limiting Media Freedom in Democratic States
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Michael Cichon, Mindel van de Laar and Eduardo Gamarra

Name: Beatriz Calzada Olvera
Thesis: Extractive Industries and Structural Transformation
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Neil Foster-McGregor

Name: Silas Nsanzumuhire
Thesis: Strategic Mechanisms for stimulating academia-industry collaboration in developing countries
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Wim Groot & Kristof De Witte

Name: Tamara A. Kool
Thesis: Beyond the Right to Work: Labour Market Engagement of Protracted Refugees through a Social Exclusion Lens
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser, Zina S. Nimeh and Lutz Krebs

Name: Victor Osei Kwadwo
Thesis: Inter-Municipal Cooperation and Environmental Outcomes Impact, drivers and incentives
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): António Tavares and Tatiana Skripka

Name: Guido Pialli
Thesis: Essays on Technological Change and Income Distribution
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Cristiano Antonelli & Pierre Mohnen

Name: George Christopoulos
Thesis: Regional patterns of innovation clustering and economic performance
Year: 2022
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & René Wintjes

Name: Maria Espinosa Romero
Thesis: The Shadow of State Hierarchy
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Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Juan Calors Seijo, Julieta Marotta and Michal Natorski

Name: Eliana Rubiano
Thesis: Essays on Conflict-Induced Displacement and Gender in Colombia
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Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Melissa Siegel, Ortrun Merkle and Lisa Andersson

Name: Purity Njagi
Thesis: Financial risk, vulnerability and equity of access to health care services in Kenya
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Wim Groot and Jelena Arseneijvic

Name: Lorena Rivera Leon
Thesis: Unveiling the determinants of scientific productivity in middle-income countries: An economics of science perspective
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan, Jacques Mairesse and Moritz Müller

Name: Maria Klara Kuss
Thesis: The Negotiations of Zambia’s Welfare Regime: The Transformative Potential of Social Cash Transfers
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Allister J. McGregor, Mark Bevir and Franziska Gassmann

Name: Iulia Falcan
Thesis: Transition towards a renewable European electricity system: What are the implications for the power technology mix, pan-European power trade and the electricity market?
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Thomas Ziesemer and Adriaan van Zon

Name: Anne-Lore Fraikin
Thesis: Social Security Incentives and Retirement Transitions in Belgium
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Alain Jousten and Alessio Brown

Name: Gideon Ndubuisi
Thesis: Essays on International Trade: The Roles of Institutions and Imported Intermediate Inputs
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Neil Foster-McGregor and Pierre Mohnen

Name: Caio Torres Mazzi
Thesis: Learning, Capabilities and Governance in Global Value Chains
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Neil Foster-McGregor and Carlo Pietrobelli

Name: Solomon Owusu
Thesis: Powering Structural Transformation and Economic Development in Africa: The Role of Services, Manufacturing and Global Value Chains
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Neil Foster-McGregor and Bart Verspagen

Name: Yip Ching Yu
Thesis: Immigrant Welfare Dynamics in the Netherlands
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen, Melissa Siegel, Hans Schmeets and Zina Nimeh

Name: Tatenda Zinyemba
Thesis: Effects of HIV on Children and Youth's Educational Attainment
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Wim Groot and Milena Pavlova

Name: Rafael Lemaitre Carabias
Thesis: Public Sector Innovation in the United Arab Emirates - How innovation occurs and what outcomes it delivers
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Jo Ritzen and Anthony Arundel

Name: Bart Kleine Deters
Thesis: A quantitative approach to the right to education; Concept, measurement, and effects
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Fons Coomans, Kaj Thomsson, Gustavo Arosemena and Zina Nimeh

Name: Halefom Nigus
Thesis: Markets and Human Behavior: Evidence from Artefactual Field Experiments
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Eleonora Nillesen, Pierre Mohnen and Salvatore Di Falco

Name: Giulia Rossello
Thesis: Social Transformations: The case of South African Academia
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan

Name: Gloria Bernal
Thesis: Preferences and Performance of High School Students in Response to Scholarships, Information, and Co-education
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Kristof de Witte and Mindel van de Laar

Name: Philip Drauz
Thesis: Who calls the shots and why? The role of actors and institutions in the response to the sovereign debt crisis in the euro area
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Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Aneta Spendzharova, Christine Neuhold and Bertrand Candelon

Name: Racky Balde
Thesis: Essays on informal versus formal economy choices
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen and Théophile Azomahou

Name: Atsuko Okuda
Thesis: Towards e-compliance: Exploring the role of compliance and e-governance initiatives in the case of Bhutan
Year: 2021
Promotor(s): Baharul Islam, Antonio Cordella and Mindel van de Laar

Name: Gillian McFarland
Thesis: Doing Policy in Further Education: An exploration of the enactment of the GCSE Resit Policy in Further Education Colleges in England
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Louis Volante and Mark Bevir

Name: Omar Rodriguez
Thesis: Essays on Entrepreneurship in Colombia
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Wim Naudé & Arnaud Dupuy

Name: Janyl Moldalieva
Thesis: Playing the 'Game' of Transparency and Accountability in Kyrgyzstan's Natural Resource Governance
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Prof Dr T. Blom, Prof Dr J. Heathershaw, Dr Z. Nimeh

Name: Ayla Bonfiglio
Thesis: Student Migrant, Refugee or Both? Exploring Refugee Agency and Mobility through Tertiary Education in Kenya, South Africa and Uganda
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Ronald Skeldon & Roger Zetter

Name: Mary Kaltenberg
Thesis: From Micro to Macro: Essays on Technological Change and Income Divergence
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen and Neil Foster-McGregor

Name: Ornsaran Pomme Manuamorn
Thesis: Governance of International Adaptation Finance for Local Climate Change Adaptation: An Analysis of Adaptation Fund Projects
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Shyama Ramani

Name: Nora Jasmin Ragab
Thesis: Diaspora Mobilisation in a Conflict Setting: The Emergence and Trajectories of Syrian Diaspora Mobilisation in Germany
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser and Melissa Siegel

Name: Kaleab Haile
Thesis: Essays on Rural Household Decision-Making Under Climate Risk
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Lonneke Nillesen & Nyasha Tirivayi

Name: Emmanuel Buadi Mensah
Thesis: Premature Deindustrialization and Structural Transformation in Africa
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Neil Foster-McGregor & Bart Verspagen

Name: Rose Vincent
Thesis: Essays in Public Economics: Multi-Layer Tax Structure and Implications
Year: 2020
Promotor(s): Arno Riedl & Kaj Thomsson

Name: Fernanda Assuncao Soares
Thesis: The influence of within school and across schools’ collaborative practices on student learning and teaching outcomes in West Africa
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Kristof de Witte & Mindel van de Laar

Name: Camilo Nicanor Carrillo Purin
Thesis: Teachers’ in-service training and student achievement: The effect of in-service training of Peruvian teachers on student achievement
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Wim Groot and Henriette Maassen van den Brink

Name: Michal Kazimierczak
Thesis: Regional Innovation And Entrepreneurship Patents, Trade Marks, Entry And Entrants
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Rene Belderbos & Micheline Goedhuys

Name: Richard de Groot
Thesis: Cash Transfers, Child Nutrition and Intra-Household Dynamics: Unpacking the Causal Mechanisms
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Michael Cichon, Nysasha Tirivayi and Franziska Gassman

Name: Salih Cevikarslan
Thesis: Innovation Strategies and their Implications for Technological Change and Market Outcomes: An Evolutionary Multi-Agent Based Modelling Approach
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen

Name: Hugo Confraria
Thesis: Developing scientific capacity in the Global South
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen, Robin Cowan and Lili Wang

Name: Nga Leopold
Thesis: The implications of health insurance for the labour market and patient satisfaction with medical care in Vietnam
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Wim Groot, Sonila M. Tomini & Florian Tomini

Name: Arip Muttaqien
Thesis: Essays on Inequality and Polarization: Empirical Studies in Developing Asia
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Cathal O’Donoghue and Denisa Sologon

Name: Davina Osei
Thesis: Corrupt or corrupted networks? An empirical enquiry
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Théophile Azomahou & Maty Konte

Name: Norman G. Dytianquin
Thesis: Technology in the Asian Miracle and Debacle Debates: Applications of and Insights from the Field of Influence Approach to Input-Output Analysis
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen

Name: Wondimagegn Tesfaye
Thesis: Essays on the Impacts of Climate-Smart Agricultural Innovations on Household Welfare
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Théophile Azomahou and Nyasha Tirivayi

Name: Alison Cathles
Thesis: Educational Pathways and Skills: Past, Present and Future
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Jo Ritzen & Adam Szirmai

Name: Ibrahima Kaba
Thesis: Aggregate Fluctuations and Development: Essays on Macroeconomic Volatility and Economic Growth
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Théophile Azomahou and Bart Verspagen

Name: Jemal Adem
Thesis: Livelihood Vulnerability to Shocks, Behaviour and Investment in Education: Essays in Behavioural Development Economics
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Théophile Azomahou

Name: Charlotte Keijser
Thesis: Firm Participation, Learning and Innovation in Heterogeneous Value Chains of IT-enabled Services: The case of South Africa
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Rene Belderbos, Micheline Goedhuys & Michiko Iizuka

Name: Nicolas Echarti
Thesis: Employment Effects of Vocational Rehabilitation in Germany: A Quantitative Analysis
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Esther Schuring & Prof. Cathal O'Donoghue

Name: Charlotte Guillard
Thesis: Rethinking economic growth and structural change: The role of boundaries and linkages between industries
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan and Pierre Mohnen

Name: Shellie Solomon
Thesis: Neighborhood Matters: Crime, Collective Efficacy and Foreclosures in Miami
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Cathal O’Donoghue and Hans Nelen

Name: Ana Cristina Calderon Ramirez
Thesis: Institutional isomorphism and Policy transfer in Public management reforms: Three stories about public procurement agencification in Latin America
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Mark Bevir and Gian Luigi Albano

Name: Patima Chongcharoentanawat
Thesis: Beyond A Snapshot Inequality: Economic Mobility and Policy Evaluation
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Franziska Gassmann & Pierre Mohnen

Name: Jinhyuck (Joseph) Park
Thesis: Intellectual Property Rights Protection and Cross-border R&D Investments by Multinational Enterprises
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Rene Belderbos and Pierre Mohnen

Name: Danilo Spinola
Thesis: Cycles, Economic Structures and External Constraints: A Structuralist Study on the Causes of Economic Volatility in Latin America
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Neil Foster-McGregor

Name: Mira Bierbaum
Thesis: New Mindsets to Innovate Activation
Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Fred Zijlstra, Franziska Gassmann and Eleonora Nillesen

Name: Catie Lott
Thesis: Diamonds are a Woman’s Best Friend: Broadening Measures of Women’s Access to Formal Political Decision-Making
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Year: 2019
Promotor(s): Mark Bevir and Petra Meier

Name: Mutinta Hambayi Nseluke
Thesis: A Tall Order: Improving Child Linear Growth Diets, Transitions and Maternal Education
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Wim Groot and Nyasha Tirivayi

Name: Vincenzo Vinci
Thesis: The Relevance of Institutions and People’s Preferences for Social Protection
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Franziska Gassmann & Pierre Mohnen

Name: Ortrun Merkle
Thesis: The myth of gender neutral power: corruption and gender norms
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser & Lutz Krebs

Name: Choolwe Muzyamba
Thesis: The role of community mobilization on maternal health outcomes in women living with HIV in Zambia
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Wim Groot, Milena Pavlova and Sonila M. Tomini

Name: Elvis Avenyo
Thesis: Innovation and firm performance in developing countries
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen & Maty Konte

Name: Katrin Marchand
Thesis: Essays on Forced Migration and Labour Market Participation
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Wim Naudé & Melissa Siegel

Name: Hassen Wako
Thesis: Financing Development from External Sources: Essays on Aid, FDI and Trade
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Théophile T. Azomahou and Mbaye Diene

Name: Clotilde Mahé
Thesis: Essays on Migration and Occupational Choice
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Wim Naudé and Melissa Siegel

Name: Tatevik Poghosyan
Thesis: How Board Networks Affect Firm Performance and Innovation Incentives in Transition Economies: The Case of Armenia
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan and David O’Brien

Name: Silke Heuser
Thesis: The Effectiveness of Environmental Policies on Reducing Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Cathal O'Donoghue, Ronald Skeldon & Jan Börner

Name: Khaled Rajab
Thesis: Strategic Planning under Fragility: The Role of Leadership in the Strategic Planning of Municipalities in Palestine
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Adam Szrimai, Paul Rabé and Forbes Davidson

Name: Juan Carlos Castillo
Thesis: Assessing the Role of the Export Sector in Mexican Economic Development, 1965-2014
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Adam Szrimai and Bart Verspagen

Name: Stefania Innocenti
Thesis: On Institutional persistence
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan & Eleonora Nillesen

Name: Biljana Meshkovska
Thesis: Life after trafficking: (re) integration processes of women that have been trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation in Europe
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Melissa Siegel & Arjan Bos

Name: Caroline Wehner
Thesis: Too Scared to Achieve: The Relation between Neuroticism, Conscientiousness and Socioeconomic Outcomes
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Lex Borghans and Trudie Schils

Name: Jennifer Waidler
Thesis: Social transfers and remittances: complements or substitutes for reducing poverty?
Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen, Melissa Siegel & Franziska Gassmann

Name: Tareq Abu-El-Haj
Thesis: Food Security Policy Impact Analysis: The Econometrics of Cash and Food Assistance Cost Effectiveness
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Year: 2018
Promotor(s): Cathal O’Donoghue and Franziska Gassmann

Name: Andrea Franco-Correa
Thesis: On the Measurement of Multidimensional Poverty as a Policy Tool: Empirical Applications to Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan, Fred Gault and Gaston Yalonetzky

Name: Brenda Yamba
Thesis: Schooling Despite All Odds: Evidence from Lesotho on Female Child Carers who Stayed in School
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Melissa Siegel, Katrin Kriz and Louis Volante

Name: Clovis Freire Junior
Thesis: Diversification and Structural Economic Dynamics
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Bart Los

Name: Ali Safarnejad
Thesis: Prioritizing the HIV Response A multi-criteria decision analysis
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Wim Groot & Milena Pavlova

Name: Andres Mideros Mora
Thesis: Essays on the economic effects of non-contributory social protection
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Cathal O’Donoghue & Franziska Gassmann

Name: Julieta Marotta
Thesis: Access to Justice and Legal Empowerment of Victims of Domestic Violence through Legal Organizations in the City of Buenos Aires; A Qualitative Empirical Legal Study
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Jan M. Smits and Tatiana Skripka

Name: Pui-hang Wong
Thesis: The Hearts and Minds in Conflict and Peace: The Economics of Counterinsurgency and the Psychology of Reconstruction
Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser & Lutz F. Krebs

Name: Bernard Nikaj
Thesis: From no-government to e-government
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Friso den Hertog & Antonio Cordella

Name: Tobias Broich
Thesis: New Actors in the Global Economy: The Case of Chinese Development Finance in Africa
Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai & Kaj Thomsson

Name: Hans-Erik Edsand
Thesis: Winds of Change: Expanding Renewable Energies in Developing Countries Towards a better understanding of the determinants of technological transitions
Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Fred Gault & Michiko Iizuka

Name: Sheng Zhong
Thesis: Moving Towards an Energy Efficient Future: Essays on Energy Efficiency, Technology and Development
Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Nicola Cantore

Name: Michael Verba
Thesis: Innovation and Knowledge Dynamics; Essays on the Knowledge Economy
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Year: 2017
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Robin Cowan

Name: Mahmut Kobal
Thesis: Customs & Excellence: a comparative approach on administrative and regulatory compliance perspectives of the EU-Turkey customs union
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Hildegard Schneider and Kristel de Smedt

Name: Yesuf Awel
Thesis: Insurance for Growth: Empirical Essays on Insurance Demand and Impacts in Africa
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Theophile Azomahou

Name: Eleni Abraham Yitbarek
Thesis: Getting Ahead or left behind? Essays on Poverty Dynamics and Social Mobility in Africa
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Theophile Azomahou and Franziska Gassmann

Name: Serdar Turkeli
Thesis: Governance of Innovation Policy: Empirical studies on applied political economy by multi-method analysis
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Year: 2016
Promotor(s): René Kemp

Name: Cecile Cherrier
Thesis: The Expansion of Basic Social Protectionin Low-income Countries: An analysis of foreign aid actors’ role in theemergence of social transfers in sub-Saharan Africa
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Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Michael Cichon & Franziska Gassmann

Name: Ayokunu Adedokun
Thesis: Pathways to Sustainable Peacebuilding in Divided Societies: Lessons and Experiences from Mozambique
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser en Lutz Krebs

Name: Eva Bartekova
Thesis: Multi-Problem Challenges for a Renewable Future: Empirical Studies on Competitive Disadvantages from Electricity Price Differentials and Mineral Supply Risk in an Open Economy World
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): René Kemp and Thomas Ziesemer

Name: Tigist Mekonnen Melesse
Thesis: Grow More Food Using Fewer Resources: Agricultural Technology Adoption and Innovation Practices for Inclusive and Sustainable Development
Year: 2016
Promotor(s): Theophile Azomahou

Name: Mehmet Guney Celbis
Thesis: Regional policies: convergence, trade and the allocation of public capital
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Joan Muysken, Peter Nijkamp & Denis de Crombrugghe

Name: Michaella Vanore
Thesis: Family-Member Migration and the Psychosocial Health Outcomes of Children in Moldova and Georgia
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Valentina Mazzucato & Melissa Siegel

Name: Nevena Zhelyazkova
Thesis: Work-Family Reconciliation and Use of Parental Leave in Luxembourg. Empirical Analysis of Administrative Records
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Joan Muysken and Gilbert Ritschard

Name: A. Baseer Qazi
Thesis: Knowledge flows and networks in the ICT sector: The case of Pakistan
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai and Robin Cowan

Name: Paula Nagler
Thesis: Occupational Choice in the Developing World
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen, Wim Naude & Milan Vodopivec

Name: Richard Bluhm
Thesis: Growth Dynamics and Development: Essays in Applied Econometrics and Political Economy
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai and Denis de Crombrugghe

Name: Sonja Fransen
Thesis: The economic and social effects of remittances and return migration in conflict-affected areas: the case of Burundi
Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Valentina Mazzucato, Carlos Vargas-Silva and Khalid Koser

Name: Derek Copp
Thesis: Teacher-based reactivity to provincial large-scale assessment in Canada
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Jo Ritzen, Louis Volante and Jan van den Brakel

Name: Alejandro Lavopa
Thesis: Structural transformation and economic development. Can development traps be avoided?
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai & Bart Verspagen

Name: Giorgio Triulzi
Thesis: Looking for the right path. Technology Dynamics, Inventive Strategies and Catching-up in the Semiconductor Industry
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Önder Nomaler

Name: Ibrahim Conteh
Thesis: Natural Hazards and Education: The Impact of Floods on Primary School Education in Zambia
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Wim Naudé and Georg Frerks

Name: Ajay Thutupalli
Thesis: Technology Paradigm Shifts in Agriculture: Drivers of Sustainability and Catch up
Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Shyama Ramani

Name: Francesca Guadagno
Thesis: Why have so few countries industrialised?
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen & Adam Szirmai

Name: Eduardo Urias
Thesis: Improving access to HIV/AIDS treatment in Brazil: When are compulsory licenses effective in price negotiations?
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Year: 2015
Promotor(s): Shyama Ramani

Name: Carlos Cadena Gaitan
Thesis: Green Politics in Latin American Cities: Sustainable Transport Agendas
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Luc Soete, Maria Figuerao en Juan Pablo Bocarejo

Name: Cheng Boon Ong
Thesis: Ethnic segregation in housing, schools and neigbourhoods in the Netherlands
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Henriette Maassen van den Brink & Kristof de Witte

Name: Irina Burlacu
Thesis: Challenges and perspectives of free movement for work: an evaluation of differential tax-benefit systems on the welfare of frontier workers
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Hildegard Schneider & Cathal O'Donghue

Name: Oksana Celbis
Thesis: Global Governance in the Management of Natural Resources: The case of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Luc Soete & Thomas Conzelmann

Name: Özge Bilgili
Thesis: Simultaneity in transnational migration research: Links between migrants' host and home country orientation
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Ronald Skeldon & Peggy Levitt

Name: Sach Wry
Thesis: Metachoice and Metadata: Innovating with Environmental Policy Analysis in Europe
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Michael Faure

Name: François Lafond
Thesis: The evolution of knowledge systems
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan

Name: Katherine Kuschminder
Thesis: Female Return Migration and Reintegration in Ethiopia
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Khalid Koser & Jean Pierre Cassarino

Name: Fatoumata Diallo
Thesis: Evaluation of meal and deworming programs for primary schools in rural Senegal
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Year: 2014
Promotor(s): Théophile Azomahou, Wladimir Raymond & Abdoulaye Diagne

Name: Martin Rehm
Thesis: Unified yet separated: Empirical study on the impact of hierarchical positions within communities of learning
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Year: 2013
Promotor(s): Wim Gijselaers & Mien Segers

Name: Sepideh Yousefzadeh
Thesis: Childhoods embargoed: constructing and reconstructing multidimensional child poverty in Iran
Year: 2013
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg & Franziska Gassman

Name: Flavia Pereira de Carvalho
Thesis: What we talk about when we talk about Brazilian multinationals: An investigation on Brazilian FDI, economic structure, innovation and the relationship between them
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Year: 2013
Promotor(s): Geert Duysters & Ionara Costa

Name: Dorcas Mbuvi
Thesis: Utility reforms and performance of the Urban Water Sector in Africa
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Year: 2012
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen, Sergio Perelman and Klaas Schwartz

Name: Kirsten Wiebe
Thesis: Quantitative assessment of sustainable development and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
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Year: 2012
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen & Adriaan van Zon

Name: Zina Nimeh
Thesis: Social citizenship rights: Inequality and exclusion
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Year: 2012
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg & Gøsta Esping-Andersen

Name: Abdul Waheed
Thesis: Size, competition, and innovative activities: a developing world perspective
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Year: 2012
Promotor(s): Bart Verspagen

Name: Bilal Mirza
Thesis: Energy Poverty and Rural Energy Markets in Pakistan
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Year: 2012
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai & René Kemp

Name: Aziz Atamanov
Thesis: Rural nonfarm employment and international migration as alternatives to agricultural employment: The case of Kyrgyzstan
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai and Marrit van den Berg

Name: Nyasha Tirivayi
Thesis: The Welfare Effects of Integrating AIDS Treatment with Food Transfers: Evidence from Zambia
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Wim Groot

Name: Evans Mupela
Thesis: Connectivity and growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of communication satellites
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai & Adriaan van Zon

Name: Tina Saebi
Thesis: Successfully managing alliance portfolios: An alliance capability view
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Geert Duysters & Ard-Pieter de Man

Name: Lina Sonne
Thesis: Innovation in Finance to Finance Innovation: Supporting pro-poor entrepreneur-based innovation
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan

Name: Sonila Tomini
Thesis: Informal Payments for health care services in Albania
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Wim Groot & Milena Pavlova

Name: Daniel Vertesy
Thesis: Interrupted Innovation: Emerging economies in the structure of the global aerospace industry
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Adam Szirmai

Name: Lenka Eisenhamerová
Thesis: Legitimacy of 'Humanitarian Military Intervention'
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Year: 2011
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg & Jan Hanousek

Name: Florian Tomini
Thesis: Between family and friends - Understanding the interdependency of private transfers
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Lex Borghans

Name: Melissa Siegel
Thesis: Money and Mobility: Migration and Remittances
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg

Name: Zakaria Babutsidze
Thesis: Essays on Economies with Heterogenous Interacting Consumers
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan

Name: Asel Doranova
Thesis: Technology transfer and learning under the Kyoto regime
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Geert Duysters & Ionara Costa

Name: Sergey Filippov
Thesis: Multinational Subsidiary Evolution: Corporate Change in New EU Member States
Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Geert Duysters & Wilfred Dolfsma

Name: Bertha Vallejo
Thesis: Learning and Innovation Under Changing Market Conditions: The Auto Parts Industry in Mexico
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen & Lynn Mytelka

Name: Victor Cebotari
Thesis: Conflicting Demands in Ethnically Diverse Societies: Ethnopolitical Contention and Identity Values in Europe
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg & Maarten Vink

Name: Jessica Sabine Hagen-Zanker
Thesis: Modest expectations Causes and effects of migration on migrant households in source countries
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg, Pawel Kaczmarczyk & Carlo Azzarri

Name: Donatus Kosi Ayitey
Thesis: Technical Change, Competitiveness and Poverty Reduction: as study of the Ghanian Apparel Industry
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen & Kaushalesh Lal

Name: Fernando Santiago-Rodriguez
Thesis: Human resources management practices and learning for innovation in developing countries: pharmaceutical firms in Mexico
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Year: 2010
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan & Ludovico Alcorta

Name: Alexis Habiyaremye
Thesis: From primary commodity dependence to diversification and growth: Absorptive Capacity and Technological Catch Up in Botswana and Mauritius
Year: 2009
Promotor(s): Luc Soete & Thomas Ziesemer

Name: Mirtha R. Muñiz Castillo
Thesis: Human Development and Autonomy in Project Aid - Experiences from four bilateral projects in Nicaragua and El Salvador
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Year: 2009
Promotor(s): Chris de Neubourg, Des Gasper and Janet M. Billson

Name: Semih Akçomak
Thesis: The Impact of Social Capital on Economic and Social Outcomes
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Year: 2009
Promotor(s): Pierre Mohnen & Bas ter Weel

Name: Yoseph Yilma Getachew
Thesis: The role of public capital on economic development
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Year: 2009
Promotor(s): Luc Soete

Name: Suhail Sami Sultan
Thesis: The Competitive Advantage of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises: The Case of Jordan's Natural Stone Industry
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Year: 2007
Promotor(s): Luc Soete & Dragan Nikolik

Name: Bulat Sanditov
Thesis: Essays on Social Learning and Innovation
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Year: 2006
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan

Name: Geoffrey Gachino
Thesis: Foreign direct investment, spillovers and innovation : the case of Kenyan manufacturing industry
Year: 2006
Promotor(s): Lynn Mytelka and R. Rasiah

Name: Samia S. O. M. Nour
Thesis: Technological Change and Skill Development in the Arab Gulf Countries
Year: 2005
Promotor(s): Joan Muysken & Thomas Ziesemer

Name: Masaru Yarime
Thesis: From End-of-Pipe Technology to Clean Technology
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Year: 2003
Promotor(s): Lynn Mytelka

Name: Bas ter Weel
Thesis: The computerization of the labour market
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Year: 2002
Promotor(s): Luc Soete

Name: John Adeoti
Thesis: Technology Investment in Pollution Control in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Case of the Nigerian Manufacturing Industry
Year: 2001
Promotor(s): Robin Cowan, Lynn Mytelka & Rene Kemp

Name: Marjolein Caniëls
Thesis: Regional Growth Differentials: The Impact of Locally Bounded Knowledge Spillovers
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Year: 1999
Promotor(s): Luc Soete & Bart Verspagen

Name: René Kemp
Thesis: Environmental Policy and Technical Change. A Comparison of the Technological Impact of Policy Instrument
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Year: 1995
Promotor(s): Andries Nentjes & Luc Soete

Name: Geert Duysters
Thesis: The Evolution of Complex Industrial Systems. The Dynamics of Major IT Sectors
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Year: 1995
Promotor(s): John Hagedoorn

Name: Huub Meijers
Thesis: On the Diffusion of Technologies in a Vintage Framework. Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Results
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Year: 1994
Promotor(s): Joan Muysken & Adriaan van Zon

Name: Bart Verspagen
Thesis: Uneven Growth between Interdependent Economies. An Evolutionary View on Technology Gaps, Trade and Growth
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Year: 1992
Promotor(s): Luc Soete

Name: John Hagedoorn
Thesis: The Dynamic Analysis of Innovation and Diffusion. A Study in Process Control
Year: 1988
Promotor(s): Chris Freeman & Luc Soete


UNU-MERIT