International Bachelor Law & Economics (IBLE)

In the recent past, the Erasmus School of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam considered to offer a new international bachelor program Law and Economics (IBLE). SEO Economic Research explored the potential market for this training and the potential needs of students and employers. The research presents primarily quantitative information and answers the question: does the labor market benefit from a new Law & Economics bachelor program in English?

In the academic year 2008/2009 no academic bachelor program Law & Economics was provided in the Netherlands, but all the universities provide a Bachelor of Economics or a Bachelor of Law. Students can choose between 27 different bachelor programs and universities offer even more relevant master programs, namely 75. Three out of these are in the field of Law and Economics.

Management, Economics and Law (MER) is the most relevant bachelor program at the university of applied sciences and is offered at seventeen different schools in the Netherlands. In addition universities of applied sciences offer mainly economic bachelor programs, eighteen different trainings at 27 universities of applied sciences.

In the neighboring countries Belgium, Germany, and especially in the UK and Ireland there is a large range of relevant bachelor programs. Nevertheless, the majority exists of courses from Economics or Law. Only a few programs combine the two fields.

The business world is in need of people with an economic and judicial background. Most of the time a master degree is asked for. The career opportunities after graduation are diverse, but depending on the final level of the student. The English language of the training seems to be of no added value, but that may be based on a selection effect. Furthermore, the industry is currently suffering from the economic crisis, which makes it difficult for them to estimate what the employment prospects of graduates will be in the future.