Alfons Balmann

Prof. Dr. Alfons Balmann serves as Director of the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition and Emerging Economies (IAMO) and Head of its Department of Structural Change since 2002. He is a full professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences III, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), with co-opted status in the Faculty of Law and Economics. His work focuses on agricultural structural change, land markets, agroholdings, and agent-based modeling.

• Public Policy Roles: Member of Germany's Scientific Advisory Board for Agricultural Policy, Chairman of DLG's Rural Development Committee
• Research Leadership: Developer of the AgriPoliS simulation framework, principal investigator for projects like FORLand and LaScalA

His research integrates productivity analyses with social responsibility, using computational economics to model policy impacts on agricultural systems. Recent publications examine land rental market dynamics, generational renewal, and farming system resilience. He has contributed to policy debates on direct payment caps and agricultural sustainability in Ukraine.

Key trends in his 15 most recent articles (2017-2025) include:

• Agent-based modeling for policy simulation
• Land market regulation effectiveness
• Resilience of EU farming systems
• Agroholding growth mechanisms
• Climate change mitigation through land use
• Behavioral economics in agricultural decision-making

Contact: balmann@iamo.de