VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Financial incentives and job choice

Acknowledgements The last mile is the longest one. No other saying could better describe the process of writing this thesis, which started with my studies at the Tinbergen Institute in 2006. While studying at the Tinbergen Institute, Hans and Stefan asked me to become their PhD student. I already got a taste of Stefan's …ne qualities as a supervisor when he guided me in writing my master thesis at VU University, so I agreed. Thank you, Hans and Stefan, for taking me as your PhD student. I bene…ted from the guidance and advice you gave me. This thesis would certainly have been less thorough without you. I would also like to thank my promotor Gerard, for reminding me that a PhD thesis is a snap shot of a potentially long academic career, and does not need to be perfect. I asked my friends Robert Scholte and Susanne Tijsma to be my paranymphs during the defense, and am happy that they both agreed. Susanne has been my best friend since we met in high school, and I cannot imagine anyone else to ever ful…ll that role. Robert has been my fellow student and colleague since we studied together in the master's at VU University. Currently I enjoy working with him at SEO Amsterdam Economics. Participating in the Mphil at the Tinbergen Institute (TI) was a marvellous experience for me. After the initial shock (everyone here is so smart!) I realized I …t in. I was among peers who thinked alike, and met some great people. Most of the assignment work I got done in a group involving any lineair combination of Fujin, Matija, Petr, Robert, Zoltan and myself. You could always make me laugh, even (or especially) when making Mas-Colell assigments. At VU University I enjoyed sharing an o¢ ce with Nan, Umut and Zoltan. Some TI-students would claim that there is no social life besides TI, but I experienced the opposite. I thank Andrei, Zoltan, Tim and Dorota for being my climbing partners Acknowledgments troughout the years. Bernd has been a great salsa partner and friend. I loved the cultural activities and discussions I had with Leontine. I enjoyed evenings at Marcel's and Andrei's where I met a variety of people. I have had great fun with among others. My 'studententijd'took place while writing this PhD thesis. Outside of Amsterdam, I could always count on some of my 'old' friends, …