Richard Franke

Richard Franke is a postdoctoral researcher in economics at the University of Cologne and a CEPH Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. He is also a team member of the ERC project 'ENTRENCHED: Elite Capture and Social Mobility'.

Dr. Franke specializes in the causes and consequences of regional disparities, conducting research at the intersection of regional economics, economic history, labor economics, and demographic economics. His work examines how historical industrialization patterns affect contemporary regional economic outcomes, as evidenced by his recent study on German regions spanning nearly a century of economic development.

His notable publication 'Reversing fortunes of German regions, 1926–2019' demonstrates how nineteenth-century industrialization serves as an essential determinant of economic prosperity changes across German regions. The research reveals that nearly half of the 163 labor market regions in West Germany experienced a reversal of fortune, moving from positions of economic strength to weakness or vice versa over the last century.

Dr. Franke has previously worked as a researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the University of Bayreuth before joining his current positions. His scholarly work has been published in prestigious journals including the Journal of Economic History and the Economic History Review.

As a member of the ERC-funded 'ENTRENCHED' project, he contributes to research examining elite capture and social mobility dynamics. His methodological approach combines historical data analysis with contemporary economic theory to understand persistent regional economic patterns.