Mark Lijesen

Mark Lijesen is an Assistant Professor at the School of Business and Economics, Department of Spatial Economics at VU University Amsterdam. He holds a PhD from the same institution (2004) and previously worked at the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) and Netherlands Institute for Transport Policy Analysis (KiM). His research focuses on spatial competition, transport economics, and network sectors.

Education:

• PhD in Spatial Economics, VU University Amsterdam (2004)
• MSc in Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam (1993)

Research Interests:

• Spatial competition dynamics
• Airline pricing strategies
• Transport policy evaluation
• Network sector regulation
• Consumer preference modeling

Recent Research Trends: Recent work emphasizes pandemic transport policy analysis, carbon-neutral energy preferences, and airline market dynamics. His 2025 paper develops stochastic models for pandemic-era transport decisions, while 2019 work challenges traditional pricing assumptions in airline markets.

Grants & Projects:

• Co-investigator in ZONMW ACTE project (2020)

Teaching & Teamwork: Coordinates the STREEM research project and teaches courses like Airline Business and The Economics of Vibrant Cities. Active in interdisciplinary collaborations through the STREEM master thesis program and VU's Spatial Economics research group.