Daniela Wenzel

Daniela Wenzel serves as Research Associate at Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg and Associate/Deputy Head of the Business Cycles and Growth Research Department at Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) since September 2024, driving empirical research at the climate-economy intersection.

Her academic foundation includes economics studies at University of Passau and Chemnitz University of Technology, culminating in a doctorate from Helmut Schmidt University under Prof. Michael Berlemann.

Wenzel's research specializes in macroeconomic impacts of climate phenomena, particularly long-term growth effects from natural disasters. Using advanced econometric techniques and meteorological data, she analyzes drought-hurricane interactions with economic systems across development levels, revealing critical transmission channels like investment dynamics and governance vulnerabilities. Her work directly informs climate policy frameworks through integrated assessment modeling.

Her publication portfolio shows consistent output in top-tier journals including Public Choice and World Development, with recent focus on drought-corruption linkages (2021) and hurricane growth effects (2018). These works demonstrate methodological rigor through exogenous climate indicators and global panel datasets.

As Deputy Head at HWWI, she leads departmental research strategy while maintaining university affiliation. Her collaborative work primarily involves Prof. Berlemann, with research implications spanning disaster resilience, development policy, and climate adaptation financing. The department provides infrastructure for large-scale economic modeling and international data analysis.