Article: Friday, 28 November 2025
A new interview with Professor of Banking and Finance Dirk Schoenmaker highlights his research that finds the ‘integrated value’ of 23 AEX-listed companies – and the conclusions might surprise you. The article on the Erasmus University website is accompanied by a Studio Erasmus recording found on the same webpage.
The research was done with Wander Marijnissen from strategic consultancy company ftrprf using a methodology developed by Dirk Schoenmaker and Professor Willem Schramade of Nyenrode Business University. Their research combines the financial, social, and ecological value of the companies into one number – by putting a price on any ecological damage they do and subtracting that from their economic growth, then adding their social value.
Prof. Schoenmaker’s FutureProof report on Dutch railway company NS found that it had a societal value of €72.8 billion – that’s more than 11 times its financial value. This number took into consideration the social value of people being able to take the train to work and the cost of train delays among its other measurements. You can read more about the NS FutureProof report on RSM Discovery.
In the article on the EUR website, Prof. Schoenmaker explains why he does not recommend investing in subsidies for Tata Steel, and what the ‘shadow price’ of alcohol means for the Netherlands. The researchers say their next task is to continue the work with German DAX-listed companies so similar firms in the Netherlands and Germany can be compared.
Read the article: Consider the social value as well, and you will immediately see which companies are important to the Netherlands
Science Communication and Media Officer
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