C.A. van Bochove – författare

This volume has been composed to commemorate the day, 25 years ago, that Dr. P. J. Verdoorn delivered his inaugural lecture after his appointment as professor of economics at the Netherlands School of Economics at Rotterdam. The prompt and enthusiastic reactions by several members of the profession on our request for a contribution illustrates the fact that Verdoorn is held in high esteem by those who worked with him and those who are acquainted with his work. We thank all the contributors for having helped us to realize our plan to honour Verdoorn with the publication of this ''liber amicorum''. Verdoorn was appointed part time professor of business statistics, market research and marketing in 1952. He held this post until 1969. In that year he started lectures closer related to his work as deputy director of the Central Planning Bureau: general economic research. He became full professor of macro-economic policy in 1975. Verdoorn showed a great versatility in all the fields on which he worked. Without exaggeration he may be characterised as one of the most many-sided economists in the Nether­ lands. However much the subjects he studied may have varied, the methods he applied show persistent characteristics: theories are formulated to yield testable hypotheses which, when they can be maintained, are made operatio­ nal for policy purposes. In all these phases of a research program Verdoorn showed a high level of inventivity. A combination of rigour and imagination enabled him to maintain a constant stream of high-quality publications.

This volume has been composed to commemorate the day, 25 years ago, that Dr. P. J. Verdoorn delivered his inaugural lecture after his appointment as professor of economics at the Netherlands School of Economics at Rotterdam. The prompt and enthusiastic reactions by several members of the profession on our request for a contribution illustrates the fact that Verdoorn is held in high esteem by those who worked with him and those who are acquainted with his work. We thank all the contributors for having helped us to realize our plan to honour Verdoorn with the publication of this 'liber amicorum'. Verdoorn was appointed part time professor of business statistics, market research and marketing in 1952. He held this post until 1969. In that year he started lectures closer related to his work as deputy director of the Central Planning Bureau: general economic research. He became full professor of macro-economic policy in 1975. Verdoorn showed a great versatility in all the fields on which he worked. Without exaggeration he may be characterised as one of the most many-sided economists in the Nether­ lands. However much the subjects he studied may have varied, the methods he applied show persistent characteristics: theories are formulated to yield testable hypotheses which, when they can be maintained, are made operatio­ nal for policy purposes. In all these phases of a research program Verdoorn showed a high level of inventivity. A combination of rigour and imagination enabled him to maintain a constant stream of high-quality publications.

This volume has been composed to commemorate the day, 25 years ago, that Dr. P. J. Verdoorn delivered his inaugural lecture after his appointment as professor of economics at the Netherlands School of Economics at Rotterdam. The prompt and enthusiastic reactions by several members of the profession on our request for a contribution illustrates the fact that Verdoorn is held in high esteem by those who worked with him and those who are acquainted with his work. We thank all the contributors for having helped us to realize our plan to honour Verdoorn with the publication of this 'liber amicorum'. Verdoorn was appointed part time professor of business statistics, market research and marketing in 1952. He held this post until 1969. In that year he started lectures closer related to his work as deputy director of the Central Planning Bureau: general economic research. He became full professor of macro-economic policy in 1975. Verdoorn showed a great versatility in all the fields on which he worked. Without exaggeration he may be characterised as one of the most many-sided economists in the Nether­ lands. However much the subjects he studied may have varied, the methods he applied show persistent characteristics: theories are formulated to yield testable hypotheses which, when they can be maintained, are made operatio­ nal for policy purposes. In all these phases of a research program Verdoorn showed a high level of inventivity. A combination of rigour and imagination enabled him to maintain a constant stream of high-quality publications.

The research for this project was carried out while the author was at the staff of the Economics Faculty of Erasmus University Rotterdam. The core results were recorded in discussion papers 7821/G, 7901/G, 7910/G and 8002/G of the faculty''s Institute for Economic Research. Working on the project I incurred considerable debts to some professors and fellow staff members of the faculty. Professor P. J. Verdoorn initiated this study by suggesting its subject and by encouraging me to turn my initially hesitantly held view of imports as ''indispensable'' inputs into the cornerstone of the analysis; he also read the final manuscript. Professor H. C. Bos'' enthusiastic encouragement greatly stimulated me in the arduous phase of the writing of the manuscript; his advise on style and emphasis considerably improved the presentation while his careful reading of the various versions of the manuscript eliminated many non sequiturs and some errors. I am deeply in debt to A. S. W. de Vries who scrutinized not only the manuscript but also the preliminary discussion papers; while sharing an office room with him for six years I had the benefit of many stimulating discussions and he equanimously put up with my moods when I was stuck at some point. I am also in debt to D. P. Broer for checking and improving the optimal control theorem in chapter 7; to Professor R. Harkema for inducing me to write sections 5. 1 and 5.