Ben
J. Heijdra
Emeritus Professor of Economics
General
I joined the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Groningen in the Spring of 1998. I attained emeritus status after reaching the mandatory retirement age on June 16, 2024. Before going to Groningen, I held full-time academic positions at the University of Amsterdam (1993-1998), Erasmus University (1991-1993), Monash University (Australia, 1990-1991), and the University of Tasmania (Australia, 1984-1990). From August 1995 - December 1999, I was the Director of the Netherlands Network of Economics (Netwerk Algemene en Kwantitatieve Economie, or NAKE, in Dutch). I hold Dutch degrees from Erasmus University (Kandidaats [Bachelor], 1977; Doctorandus [Master], 1980) and obtained my doctorate from Simon Fraser University (Canada, Ph.D., 1984).Research
My research focuses on (what I consider to be) policy-relevant (theoretical) macroeconomics. Topics include: ageing and macroeconomic performance, annuitization and the macro-economy, and environmental macroeconomics. I am a Senior Researcher of Netspar, a network dedicated to the study of ageing and pension issues. I joined the editorial board of De Economist in January 2005. Founded in 1852, De Economist is one of the oldest surviving professional economics journal in the world. My publications include articles in the American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of Public Economics, International Economic Review, Review of Economic Dynamics, Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Economics Letters, IMF Staff Papers, Oxford Economic Papers, De Economist, Journal of Macroeconomics, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, International Tax and Public Finance, Journal of Economics, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Resource and Energy Economics, Macroeconomic Dynamics, and Environmental and Resource Economics.-
Curriculum Vitae including list of publications and downloadable papers.
- I am a Fellow of the
CESifo Research Network (Munich). See my CV for further details
- Together with Pim Heijnen I have been working on environmental macroeconomics
with multiple equilibria over the last decade or so. I recently had
the opportunity to present an overview of our work at the University of Udine in Italy (November 7, 2019).
The slides from this lecture can be downloaded here: first part
and second part. Comments are always welcome.
Teaching 2023 - 2024 (last teaching year)
- Masters Course (Semester 1a): Macroeconomics for MSc Economics (approach via Brightspace, code EBM836C05).
- Research Masters Course (Semester 1a): Macroeconomic Theory (approach via Brightspace, code EBM127A05).
My textbook: Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics (Third Edition)
- The third edition of Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics was published by Oxford University Press on July 27, 2017. It is a major revision and contains a lot of additional material. For example, an entire new part of the book is dedicated to dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models. Unlike the previous two editions, the new book also uses the methods of dynamic programming to solve the stochastic discrete-time models. This facilitates access to the more advanced literature. Quantitative examples are also included (some of which use Dynare while other are based on Matlab routines). As with the second edition, the new edition is accompanied by a workbook containing questions and model answers.
- Nudge: between 2002 and 2017 more than 11329 copies of the previous two editions of the textbook were sold worldwide.
- Nudge: between 2002 and 2017 more than 11329 copies of the previous two editions of the textbook were sold worldwide.
- Here you find the Table of Contents for the new edition.
- Endorsements for the new edition:
- ``A remarkably clear and coherent presentation of nearly all the analytical
and conceptual tools one needs to be a good macroeconomist,
from the short run to the long run,
from simple to more complex models,
from the closed to the open economy. An impressive tour de force’’. -- Olivier Blanchard, Robert Solow Professor of
Economics, Emeritus, MIT; Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow,
Peterson Institute for International Economics.
- ``This wonderful book provides a balanced and accessible account of modern macroeconomic theory.
Both neoclassical and New Keynesian theories are presented in a consistent framework.
Graduate students as well as advanced undergraduate students will find it an invaluable source of information.'' -- Dirk Krueger,
Professor, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
- ``This textbook fills a much needed gap between standard intermediate macro
textbooks and the more advanced ones used in Ph.D training. It takes the student
by the hand to lift them out of IS-LM and introduce them gently to the tools used
in today’s macroeconomic research.'' -- David de la Croix, Professor of Economics, Université catholique de Louvain
- ``This thoroughly revised and expanded version of Ben Heijdra’s successful textbook
continues to do an excellent job of keeping up with the current developments in
macroeconomics and presenting them in a way that makes this material accessible
to advanced undergraduate students. I find its progression from intermediate
macroeconomics, through advanced macroeconomics, to the dynamic stochastic
general equilibrium, which enables these diverse developments to be
presented in a unified framework, to be particularly appealing.'' -- Stephen J. Turnovsky,
Van Voorhis Professor of Economics, University of Washington
- ``A remarkably clear and coherent presentation of nearly all the analytical
and conceptual tools one needs to be a good macroeconomist,
from the short run to the long run,
from simple to more complex models,
from the closed to the open economy. An impressive tour de force’’. -- Olivier Blanchard, Robert Solow Professor of
Economics, Emeritus, MIT; Fred Bergsten Senior Fellow,
Peterson Institute for International Economics.
- Information from the Oxford University Press website (including ordering details):
-
Supporting site for B.J. Heijdra (2017). Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, Third Ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press)
Old material
- Here your find some material supporting the previous version of the macroeconomics text (second edition)
- textbook errata and the exercise manual errata.
-
Slides for B.J. Heijdra (2009). Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, Second Ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press)