RSM professors among the Netherlands’ top 40 economists

Four professors from Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) are among the most productive 40 economists in the country in 2021 – and two are in the top five – according to Economisch Statistische Berichten (ESB), the most important policy economics magazine in the Netherlands.

The annual top 40 of Dutch economists was released in late December 2021. The four RSM faculty members in the top 40 are professors Pursey Heugens (ranked 4th), Joep Cornelissen (ranked 5th), Mathijs van Dijk (ranked 25th) and René de Koster (ranked 36th).

Staying curious and productive

“RSM employs really talented researchers, and our system stimulates people to remain curious and productive – also in the ’second half’ of their careers,” says Professor Pursey Heugens about the research opportunities at Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), the joint research institute of RSM and Erasmus School of Economics (ESE).

There are also eight faculty members from ESE, as well as faculty members from Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM) and Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences (ESSB) in the top 40 list.

Management and economics research

Heugens is scientific director at ERIM, and the dean of research at RSM. “It’s great to see that this top 40 includes academics from four of ERIM’s research programmes. We’re well underway of hitting our strategic targets in the area of research.”

Dutch economists publish well and are widely quoted which indicates a useful contribution to the development of new knowledge, according to Economisch Statistische Berichten. Many of these economists work on socially relevant problems. Erasmus University has bolstered its lead over all other Dutch universities, with 1,210 scientific articles by EUR faculty members in 2021. What is also striking is that co-operation with foreign economists is the norm. Two out of three articles considered in the ranking have an international co-author.

Ranking of Dutch economists

ESB publishes its annual ranking each December. It’s designed to measure the impact of scientific research. It ranks Dutch economists who have published the best in international scientific peer-reviewed journals in the past five years. In total, this year’s economists published 5,617 peer-reviewed articles. That is slightly more than in last year's economists' top 40, which totalled to 5,280 peer-reviewed articles. Publishing well in such journals is an important assessment criterion for researchers. More information about the ranking of economists and the publication trends are in the ESB article (in Dutch), published in December 2021.

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl.

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Erika Harriford-McLaren, communications manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at harriford@rsm.nl.