Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve (born 14 March 1979) is a Belgian economist and professor at the University of Oxford where he directs the Wellbeing Research Centre. De Neve is also the KSI Fellow and Vice-Principal of Harris Manchester College.[1] He is best known for his research on the economics of wellbeing[2][3] which has led to new insights into the relationship between wellbeing and income,[4] productivity,[5][6] economic growth,[7][8] and inequality.[9] De Neve is also an editor of the World Happiness Report.[10]

Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
Jan-Emmanuel De Neve at PopTech conference
Born	(1979-03-14) 14 March 1979
Nationality	Belgian
Institution	University of Oxford
School or tradition	Behavioral economics
Alma mater	London School of Economics Harvard University
Influences	John Kenneth Galbraith Richard Layard

His research was selected among "The Management Ideas that Mattered Most" by Harvard Business Review[11] and he was awarded the Ruut Veenhoven Award by Erasmus Universiteit of Rotterdam for his contributions to the scientific study of happiness.[12]

De Neve collaborated with the Ministry of Finance in Belgium to apply behavioral insights to tax compliance. Media reports on an intervention to rework the tax reminder letters noted that the experiment boosted tax compliance by 18.6 million euros with a reduction of 1 million euros in administrative costs.[13][14]

In May 2020, in an interview with Flemish TV Channel VRT about the COVID-19 pandemic he noted that the economic and mental health consequences of the lockdown disproportionally fall on the younger generations while the health benefits of the lockdown benefit mostly the elderly. His remarks stirred a contentious debate on the need for targeted fiscal stimuli and how to pay for it.[15] De Neve elaborated on this in an interview with Trends Magazine[16] and in pieces for the main Belgian newspapers Le Soir[17] and De Standaard.[18]