Jeroen van den Bergh

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Social & Behavioural Sciences

Jeroen van den Bergh is ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Environmental Science & Technology of Univ. Autònoma de Barcelona. He is also honorary professor of Environmental & Resource Economics in the Faculty of Economics & Business Administration and the Institute for Environmental Studies, VU University Amsterdam (VUA). Previously, he was professor of Environmental Economics (1997-2007) at VUA and member of the Dutch Energy Council (2003-2007). He obtained a Masters degree in Econometrics & Operations Research from Tilburg University, and a PhD from VUA. He published 16 books and ~200 journal articles. He was awarded the Royal Shell Prize 2002 and the IEC Environmental Prize 2011, and received awards for several publications. He is editor-in-chief of the journal "Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions", and was awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for the theme "Behavioral-evolutionary analysis of climate policy".


Research interests

The intersection of economics, environmental science and innovation studies. Work in recent years is focused on environmental innovation, notably renewable energy, the design of effective climate policy, assessment of climate policy impacts, carbon and energy rebound, and modelling a transition to a low-carbon economy. He makes frequent use of insights and approaches of behavioral and evolutionary economics. Past work covered integrated environmental-economic modelling, construction of aggregate performance indicators, contributions to the growth-versus-environment debate, economic aspects of dematerialization and recycling, and spatial/international aspects of environmental policy.

Selected publications

- van den Bergh JCJM 2017, 'Rebound policy in the Paris Agreement: instrument comparison and climate-club revenue offsets', Climate Policy 17:6, 801-813.

- Safarzynska K & van den Bergh J 2017, 'Integrated Crisis-Climate Policy:  Macro-Evolutionary Modelling of Technology, Finance and Energy Interactions', Technological Forecasting & Social Change 114: 119-137.

- King LC & van den Bergh JCJM 2017, 'Worktime reduction as a solution to climate change: Five scenarios compared for the UK', Ecological Economics, vol. 132, pages 124-134.

- van den Bergh J 2017, 'A third option for climate policy within potential limits to growth', Nature Climate Change 7: 107-112.

- Baranzini A, van den Bergh J, Carattini S, Howard R, Padilla E & Roca J 2017, 'Carbon pricing in climate policy: Seven reasons, complementary instruments, and political-economy considerations', WIREs Climate Change, 8, 4, UNSP e462.

- Safarzynska K & van den Bergh J 2017, 'Financial stability at risk due to investing rapidly in renewable energy', Energy Policy 108: 12-20.

- Drews S & van den Bergh J 2017, 'Scientists' views on economic growth versus the environment: A questionnaire survey among economists and non-economists',Global Environmental Change 46: 88-103

- Drews S, Antal M & van den Bergh J 2017, 'Challenges in assessing public opinion on economic growth versus environment: Considering European and US data', Ecological Economics 146: 265–272.  

- van den Bergh JCJM 2017, 'Green Agrowth: Removing the GDP-growth constraint on human progress', In: Victor PA & Dolter B (eds.), Handbook on Growth and Sustainability. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.