Inaugural Lecture by Anne Gielen on Friday 3 June

In her lecture, Gielen will reflect on recent new approaches and insights in the area of policy evaluation, and the consequences thereof for the role of policy in enhancing equality of opportunity. Opportunities to be economically successful in life are not equally distributed among individuals. Some individuals are more likely to experience adverse shocks and the severe consequences thereof than others. When the impact of such shocks is hard to overcome and long lasting, a group of economically disadvantaged individuals arises.

The role of policy in enhancing equality of opportunity

Governments have various social policies in place aiming to enhance equality of opportunity and hence to improve economic outcomes for vulnerable groups in society. But when thinking about ways to achieve this, shouldn’t we take a much wider perspective? What if policies have a much broader impact than is currently considered? And what if the effects of these policies have a much longer memory due spillovers on future generations? What does this mean for equality of opportunity?

About Anne Gielen

The research of Anne Gielen is characterised by a unique combination of addressing the big questions of life, being highly politically relevant, and being empirically rigorous. Her work is published in top general interest journals (e.g., The American Economic Journal – Economic Policy and The American Economic Journal – Applied Economics, and top field journals such as the Journal of Human Resources and Journal of Health Economics).

In 2013 Gielen received a Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship, and in 2017 she was awarded an NWO Vidi grant for her work on intergenerational spillovers in welfare dependency. Many households are reliant on welfare benefits to cover daily living expenses. Given that welfare dependence seems highly persistent across generations, this trend may not only pose a challenge for current generations but may also affect future generations’ welfare dependence, with dramatic consequences for social inequalities. However, little is known about the extent to which growing up in a family that is reliant on welfare causes someone to be welfare dependent himself later in life. The findings of Gielen’s research can help improve the design of welfare policy by indicating whether, when, and how public policies should target children in welfare receiving families.