Elbert Dijkgraaf (born 6 January 1970) is a Dutch economist and politician of the

Reformed Political Party The Reformed Political Party ( , SGP) is a conservative Reformed ChristianThese sources describe the SGP as a Calvinist (Reformed Christian) political party: * * * * political party in the Netherlands. The SGP is the oldest political party in the ...

(SGP). He is professor at the Erasmus School of Economics where he holds the chair "Empirical economics of the public sector". He also is fellow of the

Tinbergen Institute The Tinbergen Institute is a leading research and graduate education institute for Economics and Business. Established in 1987, the institute is named afteJan Tinbergen a Nobel laureate in economics (1969), and is a collaboration between the School ...

Life

Dijkgraaf studied

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

and is a member of the Reformed Congregations. From 1999 to 2003, Dijkgraaf was chairperson of the Reformed Political Party Youth, and he ran unsuccessfully for the House of Representatives in the 2006 general election. He became a professor at his alma mater in 2009, and he researched the government's role in environmental matters such as climate and potable water. He held a seat in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 17 June 2010 until 10 April 2018. He focused on matters of

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

social affairs A ministry of social affairs or department of social affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of su ...

infrastructure Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and pri ...

natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all life, biotic and abiotic component, abiotic things occurring nature, naturally, meaning in this case not artificiality, artificial. The term is most often applied to Earth or some parts ...

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

. He expressed

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its Abortion by country, legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in r ...

opinions, and he advocated for Sunday's significance as a day of rest. Following several months of absence due to exhaustion, Dijkgraaf decided to step down as a member of parliament in 2018 citing tensions in his marriage. After a divorce, he entered into a relationship with Tamara van Ark, who is a politician and former Minister for Medical Care for the

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy ( , VVD) is a Conservative liberalism, conservative-liberal List of political parties in the Netherlands, political party in the Netherlands. The VVD, whose forerunner was the Freedom Party (Netherl ...

(VVD). The couple later got married. Dijkgraaf also continued his academic career as an economics professor at Erasmus University, and he established his own consultancy practice. He served on government committees to research the nitrogen crisis in the Netherlands, the future of accountancy, and the effects of a shrinking population on secondary education. He was on the supervisory board of

Wageningen University & Research Wageningen University & Research (also known as WUR) is a public research university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally important center fo ...

and on the board of the Noaber Foundation, the

family office A family office is a privately held company that handles investment management and wealth management for a wealthy family, generally one with at least $50–100 million in investable assets, with the goal being to effectively grow and transfer ...

of Paul Baan. On 20 March 2024 – as part of the 2023–2024 cabinet formation – Dijkgraaf was selected by PVV leader

Geert Wilders Geert Wilders (born 6 September 1963) is a Dutch politician who has led the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) since he founded it in 2006. He is also the party's leader in the House of Representatives. Wilders is best known for his right-wing p ...

to serve as

informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...

alongside Richard van Zwol. They were tasked with investigating a

governing coalition A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an e ...

with a concise agreement between the PVV, VVD,

NSC NSC may refer to: Banking and investment * National Sort Code, an Irish bank code * Nomura Securities Co, an investment bank Computing * National Software Centre, an Irish organization * National Supercomputer Centre in Sweden * NetShow Channe ...

, and BBB as recommended by their predecessor Kim Putters within eight weeks. Dijkgraaf and Van Zwol managed to successfully facilitate the formation of a coalition, and they handed the agreement titled "Hope, Courage, and Pride" to the Speaker of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the night of 16 May – two hours after the expiration of their deadline.

References

Parlement.com biography

External links

Personal homepage at Erasmus School of Economics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dijkgraaf, Elbert 1970 births Living people Dutch columnists 21st-century Dutch economists Erasmus University Rotterdam alumni Academic staff of Erasmus University Rotterdam Dutch MPs 2017–2021 Dutch MPs 2010–2012 Dutch MPs 2012–2017 People from Almelo Dutch Calvinist and Reformed Christians Reformed Political Party politicians