Citation for published version (APA): Smrkolj, G. (2013). Dynamic models of research and development. Amsterdam: Rozenberg.

Transcription

1 UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Dynamic models of research and development Smrkolj, G. Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Smrkolj, G. (2013). Dynamic models of research and development. Amsterdam: Rozenberg. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam ( Download date: 18 Mar 2019

2 Acknowledgements I must admit that finishing the doctoral thesis is one of the most unsurprising events in my life, at least for me. I do not remember when exactly I decided to obtain a doctorate, but it must have been way before I decided it would be in economics. According to my grandparents, I was still a young kid when I announced this big plan. The motivation for it was changing over the years, but the goal was always firmly there. It was not an easy task. It involved a lot of perseverance and sacrifice, but it was fun, I must say, to a large extent thanks to all the great people I encountered on the way and who kindly provided me with guidance and support in times when things did not go that smoothly. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Jeroen Hinloopen for his guidance, enthusiasm, and continuous support during my PhD studies. He always gave me a lot of highly appreciated freedom at my research and teaching, but was never hesitant to provide closer guidance when needed. I am also infinitely grateful to him for making it possible for me to prolong my stay at this marvelous university and so be able to enjoy pleasant work conditions and company of to me very dear people for an additional year. My co-mentor and, as nicely called by Prof. Hommes at an occasion, my private math teacher Florian Wagener also deserves special thanks. He introduced me to the world of bifurcations and higher mathematics and was at all times a guide I could not imagine being any better. Our weekly meetings kept me highly motivated and on track. While in our conversations I often felt like a child who is thrown in the water before being able to swim, I learnt from his profound remarks, and my attempts to decode them, more than I could have imagined. I am also grateful for his continuous enthusiasm, for somehow always being able to convince me that my problems are in fact excellent opportunities. v

3 Besides my advisors, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee: Chaim Fershtman, Peter Kort, Luca Lambertini, and Randolph Sloof, for agreeing to serve as members of the committee and for the time they invested in reading the manuscript. Special thanks go to Chaim Fershtman for inspiring me for dynamic models during his lectures at the Tinbergen Institute. My gratitude extends to the great co-workers at the University of Amsterdam: Adriaan, Arnika, Aufa, Flora, Jo, Liting, and especially Sander, thank you for always being so supportive and ready to share a word of wisdom with me. I consider myself extremely lucky to have got to know so many great people in the course of my life in Amsterdam. It would be a daunting task to even try to list all of you here, yet all the precious moments we shared together. You know who you are, and you are all very special. Your involuntary participation in my pranks is also gratefully acknowledged. There are, however, some who I need to address separately. Gijs, Jordan, Roel buddies, I cannot even imagine how boring my days at the Tinbergen Institute would be without you. My memories go back to all our jokes and fun around the homework sets. How many words did we redefine? How many ridiculous stories did we bring to life? You! Thanks for all the smiles, for all the support, and for simply being who you are! Natalya, you are like my soul sister. We share so many pleasures horse riding, classical concerts, good wine, movies, and hundreds more yet to come! Thanks for always being so supportive, cheering and someone I can always count on. Leontine, thanks for all the support through the years and for reviving my passion for dancing. Our dance evenings are something I always look forward to with great excitement after my workdays! Gosia and Ona, my ex-housemates, it was nice with you and I owe you more for my survival than I can write here. Ona, I will miss our chatter in the kitchen and your sofa moments. Gosia, I need to say that it was always calming to see someone had even worse sleeping habits than me. Changing a bulb or repairing something in the house way past the midnight was something I probably would never have experienced without you. A desperate housewife at times, but surely a distraction to die for. vi

4 I am also lucky to have met two promising young Slovenian economists in Amsterdam, who have both become good friends of mine Janko and Timotej. Janko deserves special thanks for constantly challenging my physical endurance, be it on a bike, in a swimming pool, or in a go-kart. Thanks to him, I might live some years longer than I would have otherwise. Due to his continuous cheering on the marriage market, there might still be some hope for me. Discovering the beauties of the Netherlands is always an exciting task for me. Here I need to express my gratitude to Timotej for our gang s car adventures, which always turn out fun. I just hope we never again forget where we parked the car. I am also heavily indebted to Matjaž for always being everything that being a good friend entails. We started to share big ideas already back in the elementary school and he has always been very supportive of all my plans, calling me Doctor before I have even finished this dissertation. He also deserves thanks for always reminding me how beautiful my home country Slovenia is. I would also like to express sincere thanks to Tina, Nataša, and Nina, for all the great moments during our studies in Slovenia and for supporting my decision to go study abroad. Nataša, I will always cherish the memory of our weekly discussions of Hayek s ideas along a cup of tea in the very early morning train coupe. They were great inspiration for me! I owe sincere thanks to all the great teachers in the secondary school who contributed a great deal to my decision to pursue further studies in economics. Special thanks to Stanko Miklič, Branko Ðor devič, Gabrijela Blaznek, and Vanda Macerl, for always openly believing in my success. I reserved the final and most important lines for my family. I consider myself an extremely lucky child. My parents, Ksenija and Jano, and grandparents, Pavla, Pepi, and Fani, have always provided me with everything I could wish, both emotionally and materially, many times sacrificing their own well-being for mine. I am grateful to them for raising me up to be the man who I proudly am today, for always believing in me, supporting me, and, what is most important, for making me feel loved. They are the ones who invented a hundred and one way of stimulating me to do schoolwork well in years when running in mud, playing computer games and ringing on the doors of annoyed neighbors were more inviting activities vii

5 than any book ever written could be. Without them, I would never have achieved what I have. A special gratitude goes to my sister Kaja for sharing with me the precious bond only a sister can. We had our share of fights, we had tears, but also lots of joy and that crazy laughter only we will ever understand. I love you, my sister. More than words could ever say and I am thankful for every day that you are in my life. I am also heavily indebted to our extended family members. In particular, to aunt Ema, uncle Ivo; aunty Suzana, uncle Otmar, cousins Eva and Nina; aunt Dori, uncle Stane, cousins Ana and Nejc; aunt Slavi, uncle Dušan, cousins Tina and Andraž: aunt Jana and uncle Jože; Sara, Karmi, Jukič family, Gošte family, Tamše family, and our neighbors, Bokal family, Pilih family, and Pirkovič family, for always believing in me. I feel privileged to have been a part of your life. My last words of deep appreciation and gratitude go to my late grandgrandmother Fani Ivič, who left me while I was still a young boy, but whose good-heartedness, kindness, grace, and love continue to live in my heart. The words she wrote in my memory book, Be good and honest and you will be welcome everywhere, are deeply etched out in my soul. She is an angel I could never disappoint. Amsterdam, 18 February 2013 viii