Schiphol Airport Amsterdam: to Understand the Past Is to Secure Future Economic Growth.

Schiphol Amsterdam, the main airport of the Netherlands, is a dynamic node, where the space of places and space of flows meet. The days that Schiphol was just an airport are long gone. This makes it a complex entity. The different governments concerned with the future development of Schiphol appear to be indecisive and lack adequate knowledge needed to understand the dynamics of the airport, as a result of which the planning process is insufficient. It seems that reality and the administrative situation do not fit anymore. Spatial supply and demand differ enormously. Schiphol and the national government both conceptualize the airport by calling it a mainport, but both define the same concept differently. The mainport concept was formed in the mid-eighties, when the Dutch economy was in a period of recession. Two economic motors were appointed: the Rotterdam Harbour and Schiphol Airport. Now after almost twenty years Schiphol evolved enormously while the mainport concept used by the government hardly changed. How is this possible? In this paper I will describe the forming of the mainport concept and the evolution of Schiphol. After assessment of this evolution and the concept, which is done by a combination of in depth interviews, a comprehensive literature study and the analysis of the operative policy documents, I conclude with a problem inventory. I argue that this inventory can help us understand why the mainport concept and Schiphol differ today and why reality and the administrative situation do not fit anymore. In this way, the problem inventory will provide a good basic framework in order to find a solution and make sure that in the recent future reality and the administrative situation will be one again.

Accounting for economic growth in the Netherlands since 1913

This paper applies a growth accounting approach to monitor growth performance of the Netherlands since 1913, which looks at the contribution of, labour, human capital, physical and knowledge capital to real output growth. The paper also compares growth and level of per capita income and productivity in the Netherlands with that of other Northwest European countries. The paper includes an extensive appendix with annual figures from 1913 to 1994.

Promotion of leaf degradation by earthworms under laboratory conditions

Organic materials were applied to leaves from organic apple trees. Then, leaves were fed to earthworms in a laboratory culture. The objective was to select materials which promote leaf degradation by earthworms and consequently reduce the inoculum pressure of apple scab in orchards. Used earthworms were fully grown and consequently no effect of the leaf treatments was found on earthworm weights. However, leaf consumption tended to be increased by addition of amino acids and beet pulp to leaves. For beet pulp, this was especially the case when the dose was increased from 1 to 5 % or when it was freshly applied

Innovation in services : overview of data sources and analytical structures

This paper has a twofold aim. Firstly, it presents an overview of sources of data on service innovation. We distinguish two levels of data, namely data at the macro-level and data at the micro level. Data at the macro-level are mainly obtained from primary and secondary statistical sources produced by national and international (statistical) agencies. Most macro-data do not measure the service innovation process itself, but mainly represent inputs in or output originating from the innovation process. Data at the micro-level are derived from specific innovation surveys of firms and enterprises, which have been carried out over the past decade, and cover - although to a limited extent - service sectors as well. Section 2 provides an overview of macro and micro indicators on service innovation, and it discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the various measures. The second aim of the paper is to provide analytical structures that can assist in analysing the data on service innovation. The main characteristic of the analytical structures vis-à-vis the raw data, is that analytical structures require constructs and assumptions on the relation between the various indicators in the database. At the macro-level we propose two structures, namely a productivity accounting system, which allows to analyse the contribution of the inputs in the production process, including skilled and unskilled labour, different vintages of physical equipment and technology inputs, to the output produced. Secondly, we discuss an input-output accounting framework to analyse backward linkages of intermediate input use in service industries. The input-output structure may also serve a more detailed analysis of innovation relations between industries, using R&D data. At the micro level we compare the statistical computer package, LISREL (Linear Structural Relations), as a means to analyse the data from micro-based innovation surveys with regular regression analysis, which is mostly used in analysing micro-based innovation data. Section 3 describes these analytical structures in more detail. This paper is part of the project on Structual Information Provision in Services (SIID) carried out by the University of Groningen and DIALOGIC (Utrecht) for the Minisity of Economic Affairs in The Hague (The Netherlands).; Together with an accompanying thematic paper on the conceptualisation of service innovation, it concludes the first phase of the SIID project.

Three phases of Dutch economic growth and technological change, 1815-1997

In this paper we analyze the dynamics of Dutch economic growth for the period 1815-1997. By applying a simple econometric technique, important braking points in the timeseries are traced. It seems that three phases of growth can be discerned and that these phases are characterized by different types of technology (steam, electricity as well as information and communication technology). The Dutch economy has not generated an overall productivity improvement from the first and third technological phase, but has been successful in exploiting the technological opportunities of the second phase.

Three phases of Dutch economic growth and technological change, 1815-1997

In this paper we analyze the dynamics of Dutch economic growth for the period 1815-1997. By applying a simple econometric technique, important braking points in the timeseries are traced. It seems that three phases of growth can be discerned and that these phases are characterized by different types of technology (steam, electricity as well as information and communication technology). The Dutch economy has not generated an overall productivity improvement from the first and third technological phase, but has been successful in exploiting the technological opportunities of the second phase.

European bachelor physical activity and lifestyle (PAL)

Lifestyle related health problems are a tremendous burden for European societies that demands a shift towards prevention and a professional to guide this process. Therefore a new bachelor program PAL was developed. A consortium of seven universities from the Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Lithuania and Great Britain developed a competence-based curriculum. Six semesters were developed: 1) Basic Program, 2) Health Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA), 3) Changing Behaviour, 4) Nutrition, 5) Policy & Entrepreneurship and 6) the Final Project. From 2012-2013, Changing Behaviour, HEPA and Nutrition were tested. Meanwhile, Portugal received full accreditation and Lithuania started the accreditation process. From September 2013, the program will start in Groningen/NL, Rio Maior/POR and Kaunas/LIT