Nils Röper

Dr. Nils Röper is a Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology, John F. Kennedy Institute, Free University of Berlin. His work examines the intersection of business power and political processes within pension and financial systems, with emphasis on discursive strategies and institutional change. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford and has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Konstanz and Johannes Kepler University Linz.

Education background:

• BSc and BA in Sociology, University of Passau
• MA in Political Science, New York University
• DPhil in Politics, University of Oxford

Röper's research centers on institutional theory and discursive institutionalism, investigating how business actors like banks and insurers shape policy through strategic discourse. His work spans pension politics, financial system transformations, and climate change policy, revealing mechanisms of idea diffusion across national boundaries and the role of bricolage in paradigm formation. He employs comparative case studies to analyze power dynamics between financial incumbents and challengers.

His 2021-2024 publications in Global Environmental Change, Governance, and Journal of European Public Policy demonstrate consistent focus on business influence in climate finance and pension politics. Key trends include analyzing reinsurers' overlooked role in climate debates, the mechanics of policy paradigm emergence through collective bricolage, and resistance to financialization within German pension systems. His work bridges political science, economics, and environmental studies through innovative discursive approaches.

Academic engagement: Röper actively contributes to public discourse through writings in Le Monde Diplomatique, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Die Zeit. He collaborates with researchers including Sebastian Kohl and Martin B. Carstensen on projects examining catastrophe reinsurance and institutional continuity. His current John F. Kennedy Institute affiliation supports research on climate change and financialization.