Govert Bijwaard

Govert Bijwaard is a senior researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) since 2008, with significant academic affiliations as an EEF visiting research fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Groningen; an external affiliate at the Health Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG), University of York; and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in Bonn, Germany.

Dr. Bijwaard earned his PhD in econometrics in June 2001 from the Free University Amsterdam/Tinbergen Institute, where he developed advanced techniques to overcome inference issues in duration models and multistate models, accounting for (dynamic) selection. His methodological expertise has been foundational to his empirical research across multiple domains.

His research program examines the causal impact of socioeconomic differences on health and mortality, the impact of early life choices on later health outcomes and socioeconomic position, and the effects of labor market behavior on return migration. His work frequently leverages natural experiments like the Dutch Hunger Winter to investigate long-term health consequences. Recent publications demonstrate growing sophistication in causal mediation analysis and principal stratification methods applied to health economics questions.

Dr. Bijwaard's scholarly output shows remarkable consistency with publications in top journals including Journal of Health Economics, Health Economics, Social Science & Medicine, and Demographic Research. His research increasingly bridges econometric methodology with substantive health and migration questions, with notable emphasis on education-health pathways, migration dynamics, and the long-term effects of early life conditions.

• VENI-grant from Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) in 2004
• Fulbright grant for graduate studies at Brown University

Dr. Bijwaard maintains active research collaborations with institutions across Europe and North America, including the Centraal Planbureau in The Hague, Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and multiple Dutch universities. His work has significant policy implications for migration policy, health equity, and social determinants of health, with several publications directly addressing policy-relevant questions about immigrant integration and health outcomes.