Universiteit van Tilburg -

Profile

Curriculum Vitae

Research

Teaching

Other activities

Contact

B.R.R. (Bert) Willems

Associate Professor
b.r.r.willems@uvt.nl

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration
Department of Economics

Expertise

I am studying the organization and regulation of energy markets. Several questions are addressed:

Which regulatory instruments are necessary to obtain a sustainable energy system? How can we organize the market such that we will use the optimal mix of renewable and conventional technologies
Do energy firms have market power? If abuse of market power is a problem, which steps can the government take to reduce market power? Are standard competition policy rules sufficient or should we rely on sector-specific regulation?
Will a healthy and competitive energy sector deliver a secure energy supply system? What is the role of the government?

Key words

Publications

Most recent publications

Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2010). Exclusion Through Speculation. (CentER Discussion Paper, 2010-83) pp. 1-28. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2010). Exclusion Through Speculation. (TILEC Discussion Paper, 2010-027) pp. 1-28. Further information
Willems, Bert, & Morbee, J. (2010). Market completeness: How options affect hedging and investments in the electricity sector. Energy Economics, 32(4), 786-795. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2009). Exclusivity as Inefficient Insurance. (CentER Discussion Paper, 2009-24) pp. 1-30. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2009). Exclusion as Inefficient Insurance. (TILEC Discussion Paper, 2009-015) pp. 1-30. Further information

Click here for the complete list of publications (Tilburg University Repository Publications only)

Education

Jun 2000 - Jan 2004 PhD in Economics 'Electricity networks and Generation Market power'
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)
Jan 2001 - Jul 2001 Doctoral courses: Contract Theory and Industrial Organization
IDEI, Université Toulouse I (FR)
Sep 1999 - Jun 2000 Master of Science in Economics
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)
Sep 1998 - Jun 1999 Complementary Studies in Economics
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)
Sep 1995 - Jun 1998 Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering: Option Energy
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)
Technische Universität Braunschweig (De)
Sep 1993 - Jun 1995 Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)

Career

Sep 2008 - Aug 2010 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow
TILEC and CentER, Tilburg University (NL)

Sep 2006 - Aug 2008 Post-Doctoral Researcher
Tilburg Law and Economics Centre, Tilburg University (NL), 80%
Energy, Transport and Environment, Center for Economic Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE), 20%

Jul 2006 - Aug 2006 Post-Doctoral Researcher
Lehrstuhl für Energiewirtschaft, Technische Universität Dresden (DE)

Jan 2006 - Jun 2006 Jean Monnet Fellow
Florence School of Regulation, European University Institute (IT)

Sep 2004 - Dec 2005 Senior Researcher
Energy, Transport and Environment, Center for Economic Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)

Jan 2004 - Aug 2004 Visiting Post-Doc
University of California Energy Institute, Berkeley, California (US)

Jan 2000 - Dec 2003 Research Assistant
Energy, Transport and Environment, Center for Economic Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)

Sep 1998 - Aug 1999 Research Assistant
Applied Mechanics and Energy Conversion, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (BE)

Publications

Most recent publications

Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2010). Exclusion Through Speculation. (CentER Discussion Paper, 2010-83) pp. 1-28. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2010). Exclusion Through Speculation. (TILEC Discussion Paper, 2010-027) pp. 1-28. Further information
Willems, Bert, & Morbee, J. (2010). Market completeness: How options affect hedging and investments in the electricity sector. Energy Economics, 32(4), 786-795. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2009). Exclusivity as Inefficient Insurance. (CentER Discussion Paper, 2009-24) pp. 1-30. Further information
Argenton, C., & Willems, Bert (2009). Exclusion as Inefficient Insurance. (TILEC Discussion Paper, 2009-015) pp. 1-30. Further information

Click here for the complete list of publications (Tilburg University Repository Publications only)

Projects

Cross-subsidies in the Electricity Sector, Essent N.V. (2007) IDO: Interdisciplinary Research Project on Energy and Environmental Policy, Engineering, Economics and Law, K.U.Leuven (2006-2008)

CLIMNEG II: Climate change policy, Belgian Science Policy (2004-2005)

Numerical simulation model of the Northwestern European electricity market, Belgian electricity regulator (2004-2005)

Market power in electricity markets, Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders (2000-2004)

External accreditation

Scholarships

Sep 2008 - Aug 2010 Marie Curie Fellowship, Intra-European Fellowship, Tilburg University, the Netherlands

Jan 2006 - Jun 2006 Jean Monnet Fellowship, European University Institute, Robert Schuman Centre, Italy

Jan 2004 - Aug 2004 Visiting Research Associate, University of California Energy Institute, Berkeley, USA

Jan 2000 - Jun 2000 Marie Curie Fellowship, Université Toulouse I, France

Sep 1996 - Jul 1997 Erasmus Scholarship, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

Conferences

Conference participation and presentations
(Presentations are marked with a star)

2007
Infratrain Workshop on Stochastic Optimization, TU-Berlin, Berlin
Workshop on the Law and Economics of Competition Policy, Bonn, Discussant
Transatlantic Infraday, University of Maryland, Washington DC *
Breugel-IDEI Infrastructure Conference, Brussels, Discussant
EARIE conference, Valencia *
Infraday, TU-Berlin, Berlin*
Law and Economics Seminar, Tilburg*
IDEI Energy Conference, Toulouse, Discussant
ACLE-Conference, conference on Strategic Firm Authority Interaction, Den Haag *
Presentation, TILEC seminar on price discrimination in electricity markets, Tilburg *
ENERDAY Energy Conference, Dresden, Session Chair
YEES, Energy Workshop for PhD students, Dresden *
Presentation at Law seminar, Essent N.V., Den Bosch*
UNECOM, Ownership unbundling of energy companies, will it be worth it, Brussels
IAEE European Conference, Florence *
2006
First PhD-meeting for Economists, Royal Economic Society, London *
Conference on the role of Power Exchanges, Florence Conference on retail competition in electricity markets, Florence *
Research conference on Electricity Regulation and Restructuring, Berkeley *
International Industrial Organization Conference, Boston *
World Conference of the International Energy Economists Association, Potsdam * Workshop on Energy Economics and Technology, Dresden *
Seminar, Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity and Gas, Milan *
Seminar at FEEM, Milan *
Annual Conference on Electricity Regulation, Florence *
ESF Exploratory Workshop on 'Mathematical Models for Electricity Markets', Ciudad Real * Seminar at Robert Schumann Centre for Advanced Studies, Florence * Seminar at Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Berlin *
Seminar at Department of Economics, Florence * Energy Colloquium, ETH Zurich *
2005
Harmonizing Effective Regulation, SESSA Meeting, Bergen Investment for sustainability, SESSA Meeting, Madrid Invited Seminar, Dresden *
Climate Change Policy Conference, Leuven *
Electricity Modeling Conference, Leuven *
Conference on 'The Economics of Electricity Markets', Toulouse *
'Electricity Research Camp', Berkeley *
European Conference of the International Energy Economists Association, Bergen * Conference of the European Association for Research in Industrial Economics, Porto International Electricity Conference, Lodz *
Conference of the Allied Social Science Association, Philadelphia
Structure and Functioning of the Electricity Market in Belgium in a European perspective, Benelux Association of Energy Economists, Brussels
Corporate Finance Day, Leuven
Security of Supply in Power Markets, Tilburg
2004
Electricity Research Camp, Berkeley *

Teaching

B.R.R. (Bert) Willems teaches the following subjects:

Microeconomics for IBA (30J104) Further information
Microeconomics (Dutch) (330004) Further information
Seminar Competition and Regulation in Network Industries (330082) Further information

Teaching activities elsewhere

EES-UETP course on the use of models in market monitoring (2006), Milan
Market Power in Electricity Markets (2006), Doctoral Course at YEES. T.U. Dresden
Reading Group: Market Power in Electricity Markets (2006), K.U.Leuven
Reading Group: Contract Theory (2006), K.U.Leuven
Energy Economics for Engineers (2004-2005), K.U.Leuven
Exercises on Thermodynamics (1998-1999), K.U.Leuven

Other activities

Referee

The Energy Journal, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Norwegian Research Council, The Economic Journal, Energy Policy

Other activities

Organizer of the Energy Economics Policy Seminars, jointly with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the competition authorities (NMa) and the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. (2008)
Organizer of the Tilburg Energy Round Table on consolidation in the Dutch Energy Market, Tilburg (2006)
Organizer of the Electricity Modeling Workshop, Leuven (2005)
Organizer of the Climate Change Policy Conference, Leuven (2005)
Organizer of the Spring Meeting for Young Economists, Leuven (2003)

Contact details
Room K 308
PO Box 90153
5000 LE Tilburg