PhD Position in Behavioral Health Economics 2 - 1,0 FTE

Introduction

Do you want to broaden the scope of economic evaluations in healthcare by investigating theoretical and empirical foundations of well-being instruments as well as allowing these to be used in real world decision making? This PhD position offers you that possibility, combining state-of-the-art research and clear societal relevance! 

Job description

Increasingly, economic evaluations support allocation decisions in healthcare. These economic evaluations, assessing both the costs and benefits of healthcare interventions, commonly measure health gains as the outcome of interventions, typically expressed as Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs). However, it is increasingly recognized that health and social care interventions also produce benefits beyond health. Hence, broader well-being measures have been developed to capture these broader benefits, widening the scope of economic evaluations.

While the use of these well-being instruments is becoming more common in economic evaluations, questions about their theoretical foundations and empirical validity remain. Addressing these questions is important, also in the context of decision making by the Dutch Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland). In this PhD thesis, you will contribute to the knowledge in this area.     

Your responsibilities will include:

• Investigating the theoretical foundations of wellbeing measures, as well as how these relate to those of conventional QALY measures.
• Designing and conducting empirical studies regarding the validity of these outcome measures (e.g., regarding procedural invariance and constant proportional trade-offs).
• Investigating equity preferences in relation to (health and) wellbeing, and relating this to current decision making frameworks.

This PhD project will employ a combination of surveys, lab experiments, and theoretical research to investigate the validity and use of well-being measures in healthcare decision making. It aims to improve the theoretical and empirical foundations of economic evaluations, ultimately guiding fairer and more efficient healthcare policies.

Job requirements

We are looking for a highly motivated and talented candidate with the following qualifications:

Must-haves:

• A master’s degree (or equivalent) in (health) economics or health economics, policy & law, or a closely related master’s degree.
• Strong conceptual and analytical skills, knowledge of welfare economic evaluations, and an interest in experimental and survey research.
• Proficiency in English, both written and spoken, with the ability to communicate complex ideas clearly.
• Experience with statistical programming (e.g., Stata, R, or EViews).
• Ability to work collaboratively in a multidisciplinary team while managing independent research tasks.

Nice-to-haves:

• Interest in welfare economics, health economics, and behavioral economics, as well as healthcare decision-making.
• Familiarity with concepts like prospect theory, ambiguity aversion, and equity weighting.
• Programming skills (e.g., in zTree, oTree, Qualtrics) for experimental and survey design.

What we offer:

• A 4-year fully funded PhD position at the Health Economics department of Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management with a competitive salary.

• Opportunities for professional development, including courses, conference participation, an international research visit of up to 2 months, and publishing in high-impact journals.

• A supportive and stimulating research environment with access to state-of-the-art resources.

Employment conditions and benefits

An internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 01-SEP-2025 and you will be based at [class.26087] in Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). This position is for 1 fte. The salary ranges from a minimum of € 2.901 to a maximum of € 3.707 gross per month Scale PhD on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is entered into for the duration of (contractduur).

Everything else we offer you, you can find below!

-        Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!

-        Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.

-        Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.

-        Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.

-        Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).

-        Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Employer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service

Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM)

ESHPM is leading within the Netherlands with its teaching and research activities, focusing on economics, policy and management topics in healthcare. ESHPM offers a bachelor programme, five master programmes, a transition programme for lateral entrants and postgraduate education.

Since its foundation in 1982, ESHPM has closely linked research and education. Knowledge and experience from various scientific disciplines such as economics, law, socio-medical sciences, organizational studies and public administration are brought together and applied to healthcare. This multidisciplinary approach to education and research is unique.

ESHPM is housed in the Bayle (J) Building on EUR's Woudestein campus in Rotterdam. More than 1500 students study and 160 employees work at ESHPM. Internationalization is highly valued at ESHPM. The number of students, faculty and researchers from abroad has increased significantly over the past years and have enriched our programmes.

Department

You will join the department of Health Economics at Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management (ESHPM). ESHPM is renowned for interdisciplinary research and education in healthcare. Its interdisciplinary focus facilitates collaborations across disciplines and allows researchers to present their work in journals and conferences in various fields, including economics and medical sciences. ESHPM is also known for creating societal impact through its strong ties with healthcare practitioners, policymakers, and media presence.

The Health Economics research group is dynamic and active, with a variety of research interests, including behavioural and experimental health economics, global health economics and health and labour economics. The research group is part of EsCHER, one of Europe’s largest health economics centres. Through this centre, and through two jointly organised seminar series, you will have close ties with the health economists at the Applied Economics group at Erasmus School of Economics.

Additional information

If you are passionate about advancing research in behavioral health economics, we encourage you to apply.

Please submit your application, consisting of a motivation letter and CV, before 1-6-2025 via AcademicTransfer citing PhD Position in Behavioral Health Economics 2

The selection procedure consists of 1 or 2 interviews. Interviews are expected to be held in the week of June 16, 2025 (week 25).

Applying

You can find more information about the EUR on our website www.eur.nl. 

Additional information about the vacancy can be obtained by contacting Arthur Attema attema@eshpm.eur.nl or 0104089129

We look forward to receiving your application.

Persons of all gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, religions, ethnicities, ages, neurodiversities, functional impairments, citizenships, or any other aspect are welcome to apply and join the EUR community.