Johan Van Ophem

Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Department of Economics

This paper investigates the theoretical foundation for developing renewable geothermal resources locally. For this reason, we pay attention to the role of communities in geothermal development. We derive it from the integral characteristics of geothermal energy next to the shift in the energy transition policies to focus on managing green resources...

This paper investigates the theoretical foundation for developing renewable geothermal resources locally. For this reason, we pay attention to the role of communities in geothermal development. This study presents arguments for a framework that approaches the geothermal resources as an endogenous factor of community development. To analyse it, we c...

Energy transition towards a local resilient energy supply is necessary for energy security. Climate change and the threat of economic collapse are reasons to force society to become less dependent on fossil fuel. Small-scale solutions are expected to be more sustainable, as large-scale integrated networks are featured by complexity and difficult-to...

Today, a social gradient in health is clearly visible. Individuals with higher socio-economic statuses tend to live longer lives, and are less likely to be disabled or chronically ill. However, there is debate over when the social gradient emerged: is it a constant across contexts, or a particular feature of certain societies? Often, social gradien...

The objective of the study was to compare agricultural investment and agricultural production of rural agrarian women in Uganda that had received microcredit to those that had not. A quasi-experimental was used to assess differences between performance indicators of agricultural enterprises for existing and incoming borrowers of Bangladesh Rural an...

This article discusses two methods to measure the concept of local competitiveness: Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The goal of this analysis is to determine whether these two methods used in social sciences research lead to comparable model results. By non-parametric tests we show that there is a signific...

Among the renewable energy resources geothermal is specific to a local production and consumption. Next to the heat and energy production, geothermal energy presents opportunities for rural and suburban areas linking sustainable development goals with expansion of new local economy sectors. Therefore, we assume that the local utilization of geother...

Sense of Coherence (SOC), a concept that refers to an individuals’ ability to manage, comprehend, and find meaning in their lives and the world around them, has been shown to be an important predictor of health outcomes. While SOC was initially hypothesized to be static after early-adulthood, there is growing evidence that health interventions can...

This paper considers innovations as one of the factors of sustainable agricultural development of the Stavropol Territory. It focuses on the impact of state policy at the regional level in the field of innovations on the sustainable development of the region’s agriculture. This paper tests whether the implementation of the policy in innovations inc...

Next to heat and energy production, geothermal energy presents with opportunities for rural and suburban areas linking sustainable development goals with expansion of new local economy sectors. We conduct the shift share analysis for the ten municipality cases of the geothermal exploitation in Poland, comparing their employment structure with their...

Aim: This paper provides an overview of the impact of COVID-19 on consumer (household) financial vulnerability in the Netherlands in the context of socio-economic developments for households in the period 2008-2016. Design/ research methods: After a discussion of the socio-economic developments for household in the period 2008-2016, financial vulne...

Aim: Provide a summary of the expressed views, presentations and discussions during the ISINI14 (2020) online conference. Design: Next to rather traditional but this time online presentations, the discussions not only took place by way of oral communication, but also via an online tool. The administrators of the conference prepared in a word-proces...

Background: Across time and space, financial security has been shown to impact health outcomes, with the acute loss of financial security being particularly detrimental. We compare financial security's association with health in Spain and the Netherlands. These countries respectively exemplify low and high levels of financial security, general tre...

This paper investigates whether the endogenous geothermal energy resources used for local tourism facilities are a factor of local development. We answer this research question by examining the local socioeconomic development dynamics in years 1995–2015 in the six selected Polish municipalities that established geothermal spas at different years. A...

This dataset corresponds with the manuscript “The impact of geothermal resources on the competitiveness of municipalities: evidence from Poland” [1]. In the paper, the geothermal resources are assumed as a local competitive advantage for the municipalities that exploit them. In order to examine the relation between the exploitation of the geotherma...

Pension planning is an internationally accepted tool for income substitution and poverty reduction in old age. The livestock sector is a traditional economic sector that still plays an essential role in the culture and economics of Mongolia. Herders account for nearly 24.5 percent of the total workforce. Pension income is the second monetary income...

In addition to large-scale environmental benefits, geothermal resources are nowadays expected to deliver an endogenous competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to investigate this phenomenon for Poland. Since geothermal resources are of an endogenous nature, we assume their competitive advantage character for eleven selected municipalities i...

Pension planning is an internationally accepted scheme for i.) income substitution and ii) poverty reduction tools. The livestock sector is a critical traditional economic sector that still plays an essential role in the culture and economics of Mongolia. Herders in this sector accounted for nearly 24.5 of the country's total workforce and were l...

The upcoming concept of responsible innovation seems to gain foothold in Europe and beyond, but it still remains unknown how it can be implemented in the business context. This article explores how social entrepreneurs integrate values into their de facto responsible innovations, and provides empirically informed strategies to develop, implement an...

p>Europe's Great Recession provides an opportunity to study the impact of increased financial insecurity on health. A number of studies explored the impact of the Recession on health, but they often reached different conclusions. To understand the root of this debate, we undertook a systematic literature review. Articles were analysed thematically...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether the cleanliness of a work environment has influence on the productivity of employees working in office environments of non-profit organizations in The Netherlands. Design/methodology/approach In the study, an online survey (including questions about the perceived cleanliness) and two ob...

In this paper, the economic impact of non-standard activities on farms (NSAF) is analysed. After a discussion of NSAF, the export base theory is introduced as the analytical tool to assess its regional economic impact. The theory is applied to the Province of Zeeland in the Netherlands for the period 1998–2008. The first conclusion is that employme...

The aim of this paper is to understand and evaluate agricultural sustainability in the Stavropol Territory by means of a composite indicator. In particular, the paper applies principal component analyses to calculate a composite sustainability index by integration of selected economic, social and environmental indicators. The results demonstrate th...

Social entrepreneurs develop important innovative solutions for complex societal challenges. This exploratory article provides a typology of different approaches by which social entrepreneurs develop such innovations. This typology is based on their engagement in anticipation, reflexivity, stakeholder inclusion and deliberation, responsiveness and...

While the concept of Responsible Innovation is increasingly common among researchers and policy makers, it is still unknown what it means in a business context. This study aims to identify which aspects of Responsible Innovation are conceptually similar and dissimilar from social- and sustainable innovation. Our conceptual analysis is based on lite...

This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate on responsible innovation, and provides innovation practices and processes that can help to implement responsible innovation in the business context. Based on a systematic literature review of 72 empirical scholarly articles, it was possible to identify, analyse and synthesise empirical...

This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing conceptual debate on responsible innovation, and provides innovation practices and processes that can help to implement responsible innovation in the business context. Based on a systematic literature review of 72 empirical scholarly articles, it was possible to identify, analyse and synthesise empirical...

The alignment of microfinance programs with the context and expectations of the recipients is critical for ensuring clients' satisfaction and desired program outcomes. This study sought to investigate the extent to which the objectives and design of the BRAC microfinance program match the expectations, context and characteristics of female borrower...

The paper deals with the subject Transition economy and happiness - a case study of the Czech Republic in a comparison with The Netherlands in the 1990-2004 period. The paper addresses the following two questions: 1. How has the level of happiness changed since 199 0 in the Czech Republic and in The Netherlands? 2. Are there differences with respec...

This research note compares the results of the relationship between happiness and GDP in the EU based upon unweighted data with the results based upon weighted data. The data are weighted in order to correct for the different sizes of the populations in the EU countries concerned. The result of the weighting is an even stronger relationship beween...

This article presents a practitioner-based approach to identify key combinations of contextual factors (C) and mechanisms (M) that trigger outcomes (O) in Dutch community-based health-enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programs targeting socially vulnerable groups. Data were collected in six programs using semi-structured interviews and focus gro...

Physical inactivity is most commonly found in socially vulnerable groups. Dutch policies target these groups through community-based health-enhancing physical activity (CBHEPA) programs. As robust evidence on the effectiveness of this approach is limited, this study investigated whether CBHEPA programs contribute to an increase in and the maintenan...

This paper explores the impact of the household network on the start-up decision by identifying domestic drivers of and barriers to entrepreneurship. We use a work-family conflict approach and discriminate between three different family life cycle stages. Interviews were conducted with 45 young Scandinavian start-up entrepreneurs. The findings in t...

Willingness to pay (WTP) is used to assess individuals' value attribution to health-related quality of life interventions. Little is known about predictors of WTP for sport and physical activity in socially vulnerable groups in community-based physical activity (CBHEPA) programs. This study addresses the questions: What is the WTP for sport and phy...

Titel: Wat willen mensen in buurtgerichte beweegprogramma’s betalen voor sport en bewegen? Resultaten van een ‘willingness to pay’ studie Werkveld: onderzoek Trefwoorden (NCVGZ): Gezond leven, Kosteneffectiviteit, Sociaal kwetsbare groepen A: Achtergrond/ doelstelling Willigness to pay (WTP) wordt gebruikt om de waarde die iemand toekent aan gez...

This study deals with the effect of microcredit on women’s livelihood and empowerment in rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire. A cross-section survey was conducted among 185 borrowers from two microfinance institutions and 209 non-borrowers in rural areas of Côte d’Ivoire. In addition, a focus group discussion was held with each of the two women groups. Af...

This article looks at competitiveness from a regional perspective (NUTS-2). After the establishment of indicators for regional competitiveness in Poland, social and intellectual capital, the relations among the three were analysed for the 16 Polish regions using 2SLS. GDP per head is positively affected by the level of competitiveness. It was found...

Background Community-based physical activity programs often target ethnic minority groups and women of non-Western origin in particular, because they are relatively less active. Factors affecting physical activity initiation are widely studied. Less is known about factors affecting physical activity maintenance in women of non-Western origin. More...

This paper examines the issue of HIV and AIDS in relation to women, human capital and microfinance in Côte d'Ivoire. In total, 440 women and two microfinance institutions (MFIs) served as study units. The HIV epidemic negatively affected both the human and financial capital of households. The morbidity of HIV/AIDS-affected respondents negatively in...

Purpose – This paper seeks to argue that a new and broader definition of food value should be introduced that includes other factors than the traditional mantra of nutritional value, appearance, and the like. This paper introduces the concept of food consumption value (FCV). Design/methodology/approach – The development of FCV is based upon variou...

This paper analyses the main factors influencing the regional competitiveness of rural areas in the Tatarstan Republic. Firstly, 19 variables related to the socio-economic situation in the Tatarstan Republic were analysed, these having been taken from the Statistics Committee of the Tatarstan Republic. Principal component analysis (PCA) was then us...

In this paper the outsourcing of childcare, home cleaning and meal preparation is analysed by means of a socio-economic model that incorporates household-economic, lifecycle, lifestyle and health variables. The data (n= 700) was collected during a telephone survey in the Netherlands. About 10 per cent of the households did not use any of the three...

As interventions are not yet successful in substantially improving physical activity levels of low socioeconomic status groups in the Netherlands, it is a challenge to undertake more effective interventions. Participatory community-based physical activity interventions such as Communities on the Move (CoM) seem promising. Evaluating their effective...

In a knowledge-based economy intangible assets are indispensable to achieve competitive advantages. Resources like intellectual capital are perceived as crucial factors especially for regional growth. Intellectual capital is comprehended as a multidimensional concept, defined and explained in many various ways, depending on the context and further...

The concept of competitiveness has been widely explored by academics and policymakers. The article aims to shed light on competitiveness from a regional perspective and examines the contribution of social capital and intellectual capital to this phenomenon. Further the concepts of competitiveness, social capital and intellectual capital are operati...

Laffer curves for the US, the EU-14 and individual European countries are compared, using a neoclassical growth model featuring “constant Frisch elasticity” (CFE) preferences. New tax rate data is provided. The US can maximally increase tax revenues by 30% with labor taxes and 6% with capital taxes. We obtain 8% and 1% for the EU-14. There, 54% of...

Regional development is determined by possessing specific competitive advantages and their constant improvement. The problem how to increase competitiveness of the areas remains one of the most important for the agrarian sector. Russian economic policy aims at the stable development of the agro industrial complex (and agriculture as its central par...

At the individual level, income is not the only and important factor that explains happiness. It can be concluded from several cross-section studies that- after controlling for inter correlations - health, marital status, ethnicity, presence of young children and religious affiliation are relevant too. Despite a secular rise in real income in the r...

Over the past decades commuting distances have increased substantially in all developed countries. Bringing jobs and dwellings more closely together is desirable from a societal viewpoint. So, instead of commuting, which causes extensive negative externalities like air pollution and traffic congestion, residential mobility should be fostered. The q...

The structural relationships between body mass index, perceived health and happiness have been studied in a survey of 700 native Dutch citizens. We found an indirect effect of body mass index on happiness, via perceived health. Age had an inverted U-shaped relationship with body mass index, and both education and smoking had a negative effect on bo...