Dr. Mindel van de Laar is an international economist, specialized in strategic development of firms and the impact of firm strategy on country development.
She has professional experience in the academic world as well as commercial sector, as researcher and consultant. As a researcher, she has worked on questionnaire development and analysis and macro-economic analyses. Employed by the Boston Consulting Group, she was global analyst for the Corporate Finance and Strategy Department, focusing on strategy issues related to mergers, acquisitions and alliances, using various large global M&A and alliances databases. She also worked on several international projects in transition countries in the field of social protection, both as consultant and researcher. Currently at the UNU Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT), she manages the Ph.D. education programmes and research and training projects of the Graduate School of Governance.