I am a Professor in Philanthropy and Sustainable Finance

"My passion is to understand what motivates people to give to charities and to invest not only for financial return but also for social return. In my free time, I enjoy playing improvisation theatre and playing the keyboard.”

Maastricht University has been hit by a cyber attack. This means that I can no longer receive emails at the university account and your earlier sent emails might be loss. Please contact me at paulsmeetsphd(at)gmail(dot)com.

Applications for the PhD position and junior researcher position that you have submitted might also be lost. Please check the UM website and my personal website for updates. 

My research particularly focuses on understanding what motivates millionaires to give to charity, how the rich think about income redistribution and how money increases happiness. I am a co-founder of the Sustainable Finance Master Program at Maastricht University.

I published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Contact me for public speaking opportunities. I have previously been an invited speaker at ABN AMRO Bank, Deutsche Bank (Frankfurt), Rabobank, Robeco, the OECD (Paris), the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Authority Financial Markets (AFM) and the Central Planning Bureau (CPB).

For a quick introduction into Giving Behavior of Millionaires, you can watch my talk at the Rabobank.

My work appeared in The New York Times, the Atlantic, Forbes, the Guardian, BBC News, Süddeutsche Zeitung, de Telegraaf, de Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, RLT Z, Radio 1, BNR Nieuwsradio, Q Music and Slam FM! 

I visited the University of California San Diego, the University of California Los Angeles and the Toulouse School of Economics.