Degrowth Award

The Dutch Public Benefit Organisation Stichting OverBevolking offers an award of € 5.000,- for the best master thesis on the topic degrowth.

Introduction

Total fertility rate (tfr) in many countries is well below replacement level. As a consequence, societies are aging, also because of a higher life expectancy. Pronatalist policies have proven not to be very effective. Immigration will not solve the problem in the long term, because also immigrants will grow old and will tend to have smaller families. Fewer people means less economic growth. This will lead to lower tax receipts and make government debt harder to sustain.

Terms of reference

The master thesis should address one or more aspects of degrowth such as:

• What is the value of tfr as a reliable predictor of demographic degrowth?
• What does degrowth mean for the pricing of goods, services and assets?
• What is the influence of saving and spending patterns in a smaller and older society?
• What does degrowth mean for the proportion of working age people?
• What will be the impact of automation, robotization and artificial intelligence?
• In how far will a dwindling number of young people save money?

Note: these topics are neither compulsory nor limited; other issues on how to deal with degrowth are welcomed too.

1. Manuscripts are accepted either in Dutch or in English.
2. Depending on the number and quality of the submissions a second prize of € 3.000,- or even a third prize of € 2.000,- will be assigned.
3. All submitted master theses must have been
   1. written as a regular part of the curriculum
   2. assessed by a dedicated staff member of an institute for higher education.
4. Submissions are possible from now on with 15 June 2026 as a deadline.
5. A submitted thesis must be accompanied with
   1. the name, e-mail address and phone number of the author
   2. the name, academic title, e-mail address and phone number of the assessor(s)
   3. the awarded grade.
6. A prize will only be awarded after a thorough verification of the paper’s originality and academic status.
7. All papers will be judged and rated by the Board of Stichting Overbevolking after professional external consultation if necessary.
8. By submitting a thesis the author and his institution will authorise the Stichting OverBevolking to use the content and outcome of the contest for publicity purposes.
9. If a submission is planned, we would welcome a voluntary prior notice.
10. All documents must be sent to .bestuur@overbevolking.nl.