Real and Financial Asymmetries in the Euro Area

Abstract

Life takes unexpected turns sometimes. I was invited to the inauguration ceremony of my dear former colleague Dr. Jaap Bikker from De Nederlandsche Bank at Utrecht University. On this occasion, I met the supervisor of my Master's thesis, Dr. Clemens Kool, again. We had been out of touch for a while. At the time, my PhD project at McGill university faltered after several terms of parental leave as well as due to the geographic distance between Belgium (where I lived with my family) and Canada. Clemens offered: "If you need a supervisor, let me know." I do not remember how long it took me to take the decision. But I never regretted that I did. Clemens, by nature, questions everything. He never returned a document without suggestions for improvement. He was a master in condensing when my writings got too wordy. In a nutshell, he kept challenging me from beginning to end. Sometimes, his comments left me desperatemostly at times when I thought that a paper was finished. But Clemens has this incredible talent of always combining his points of criticism or suggestions for improvement with simultaneous encouragement. He knows exactly when it is time to push and when it is time to hold. This kept my spirits. I could not have wished for a more patient and supportive supervisor. It was a true pleasure working with him. A big thank you to Dr. Lenard Lieb from Maastricht University for his spontaneous support with Matlab during the Growth at Risk project. He re-arranged the code and thus made the program accessible and easy to use. I am grateful to the reading committee, Prof. dr. J.A. Bikker, Prof. dr. M. Koetter, Prof. dr. O.C.H.M. Sleijpen, Prof. dr. C.N. Teulings and Prof. dr. C. van Marrewijk, for reading and commenting on my thesis. Further, I thank the administrative staff at Utrecht University, above all Mariska van Dort and Marianne de Jonge, for helping me with all administrative issues along the way. And I am grateful to Dr. Andrea Schleu for her enduring support.I thank my parents, family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances who supported me in many ways throughout the years and who share my joy of completing this thesis. However, those who did not believe that pursuing the thesis was worthwhile were sometimes my biggest motivation to finish it. I am particularly grateful for the special relationship I had with my deceased viii grandparents. They were always loyal and supportive, and they took great interest in all my endeavours. I thank my former partner, Dr. Hans-Jörn Weddige, for his encouragement and support. The biggest thanks definitely go to our three girls, Emma, Alma and Clara. They grew up with their mother striving to finish a PhD project and closely experienced and endured all associated ups and downs of the research and writing process. Thank you for all the treats and crafts and special notes. Ihr seid toll!