Projects
How are social divides produced in contemporary labour markets?A macro-micro-macro study of the impact of European variants of labour market policies, industrial relations and welfare institutions on the working conditions, job quality and social rights o KU Leuven
Are returns and volatitilty on financial markets driven by macro-economical determinants? Ghent University
In this project we research whether Financial variables, in particular the returns on financial assests and their volatility, are driven by macro economical determinants, possibly controlled for the institutional environment. More specifically research is done on how shocks in the macro economy transfer into financial variables like stock returns, interst rates, exchange rates and their volatility.
Sex as key to success? Early modern gendered labour markets studied using eighteenth century Brabantine censuses. University of Antwerp
Fashioning 'old and new'. Secondary markets, commodity value conventions and the dawn of consumer societies in Western Europe (18th-19th centuries) University of Antwerp
Art laundering: is it not time to develop a comprehensive enforcement model? The need for tailored criminalization, compliance and enforcement of art laundering activities KU Leuven
Art as a trigger of sustainable change and sustainability as a framework for change in art KU Leuven
Cultural evolution, sexual selection, and the case of art appreciation: integrating direct and indirect selection pressures KU Leuven
A central issue in cultural evolution theory which is whether we, humans, adopt cultural traits on the basis of their match with our evolved psychology or whether we adopt traits on account of the context in which they are embedded (e.g., whether they are associated with a successful individual). The issue is equivalent to the question Darwin already posed about the peahen: does she admire the peacocks tail (or train in jargon) on account of ...
Art and Signaling in a Cultural Species KU Leuven
In recent years, the research field of the evolution of art has witnessed contributions from a wide range of disciplines across the "three cultures" (i.e., humanities, social sciences and natural sciences). In this thesis, I make both a critical review of existing explanations, and try to do elucidate the evolution of art by employing insights, methods and concepts from different disciplines (esp. biology, philosophy, and ...