Prof. Dr. Yanjun Ren is a Professor at the College of Economics and Management, Northwest A&F University (NWAFU), China, and has been an IAMO Visiting Research Fellow since May 2024. Prior to his IAMO role, he conducted research at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, Germany, from 2012 to 2019. PhD in Agricultural Economics focusing on Food Consumption, Income Inequality, and Health-related Issues in China Former Research Assistant/Associate at Kiel University’s Chair of Agricultural Market Analysis (2012–2019) Dr. Ren’s research spans food chains, consumer behavior, and applied econometrics. His work explores how socioeconomic factors, digital transformation, and policy interventions shape food consumption, nutritional outcomes, and environmental sustainability in China and Central Asia. Key themes include food waste reduction, carbon labeling, internet use in rural economies, and intergenerational health behaviors. His 15 most recent articles (2023–2025) emphasize digital agriculture, sustainable consumption, and health economics. Topics include carbon-labeled products, television/media’s role in nutrition, contract farming sustainability, and the socioeconomic determinants of dietary choices. His methodology integrates econometric modeling, eye-tracking experiments, and spatiotemporal analysis. Email: ren@iamo.de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Peichl is a leading academic in Economics, holding a Professorship in Macroeconomics and Public Finance at the Faculty of Economics, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. He is Head of the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, and previously led the Research Group “International Distribution and Redistribution” at ZEW, Mannheim. His expertise spans macroeconomic policy, tax systems, income inequality, and public finance. Peichl’s work bridges theoretical frameworks with empirical analysis, focusing on policy implications for redistribution, fiscal sustainability, and labor markets. Education: PhD in Public Economics, University of Cologne Professorial appointments at LMU Munich (since 2013) and University of Mannheim (2008–2013) Research Interests: Peichl’s research emphasizes the interplay between tax policies, income distribution, and macroeconomic stability. Key themes include: Optimal design of tax systems to reduce inequality while maintaining economic efficiency Impact of fiscal policies on labor markets and household behavior Analysis of redistributive effects of social welfare programs Global and regional economic inequality dynamics His recent work explores post-pandemic policy responses, energy security challenges, and the political economy of taxation. Grants & Advising: Peichl has led numerous interdisciplinary projects funded by institutions like the EU, DFG, and ifo Institute. He advises policymakers on tax reforms, fiscal consolidation, and social security systems. Notable collaborations include the ECONtribute and EconPol initiatives. Labs/Teams: Directs the ifo Center for Macroeconomics and Surveys, fostering collaboration between economists, policymakers, and data scientists. The center produces real-time analyses of economic trends and policy impacts.
Thomas Berger is a Professor at the University of Hohenheim , affiliated with the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and leading the Department of Economics of Land Use . He also contributes to the Computational Science Hub and Hohenheim Tropics initiatives. Focus Areas: Climate change adaptation, land-use modeling, biodiversity-productivity trade-offs, agent-based simulation, and machine learning in agricultural systems. Key Projects: Simulation frameworks for smallholder resilience in Ethiopia, bioeconomic modeling in the Amazon, and hybrid intelligence applications in European agricultural policy. Recent Publications: 2025 study on climate change effects on insecticide reduction in Germany, 2024 work on reconciling biodiversity with productivity via hybrid models, and 2023 methodological contributions to surrogate modeling and seasonal forecast integration. Research Trends: Interdisciplinary integration of climate science, agricultural economics, and computational modeling, with increasing emphasis on AI-assisted decision support systems and sustainability policy validation. Teaching & Outreach: Offers Agricultural Economics seminars and Hohenheim Tropics discussions, requiring advance email registration for office hours.
Prof. Dr. Biliana Yontcheva is Professor of Economics at the University of Hamburg's Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, specializing in Health Economics and Empirical Methods. Her research explores market outcomes through spatial econometrics, price transmission dynamics, and competition analysis across diverse sectors including healthcare, gasoline markets, and professional services. Focus on empirical modeling of market structures Expertise in spatial competition and entry models Key contributions to understanding asymmetric cost pass-through Analyzes consumer information effects on pricing Recent publications examine market delineation methodologies , vertical integration impacts , and income inequality-product variety relationships . Collaborates with researchers across Europe on topics like transition economy dynamics and regulatory frameworks. The team includes academic assistant Birte Stadtlich at the Economics Department.
Lucio Baccaro is Director at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG) and was Full Professor of Macrosociology at the University of Geneva, where he also served as Deputy Dean for Research (2016–2020). He has held academic positions at MIT, Case Western Reserve University, and visiting roles at the University of Turin and the University of Vienna. His primary affiliations are with MPIfG and the University of Geneva, both central to his research in political economy and sociology. Education: PhD in Management and Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 1999 Doctorate in Labor Law and Industrial Relations, University of Pavia, 1997 Master of Business Administration, Stoa' (IRI-MIT joint venture), 1991 Laurea in Philosophy, summa cum laude, University "La Sapienza", Rome, 1989 Lucio Baccaro’s research focuses on comparative political economy, labor relations, global worker rights, and deliberative governance . His work integrates economic sociology and political sociology to analyze institutional change, social dialogue, and the impact of globalization on labor and welfare systems. He has led major comparative studies on employment models, pension reforms, and international labor standards. His scholarship emphasizes the interplay between institutions, ideas, and power in shaping economic governance. His recent publications reveal a consistent focus on institutional change, deliberative processes, labor market reforms, and global justice . Themes include path dependence in international organizations, the transformation of collective bargaining, and the role of expertise in democratic governance. His interdisciplinary approach bridges sociology, political science, and economics, with strong methodological rigor in comparative and qualitative analysis. Scientific Awards and Honors: Honorary Professor, University of Duisburg-Essen (2023) Professeur honoraire, University of Geneva (2020) International Geneva Award (2011) Outstanding Young Scholar Award, IRRA (2003) Founder's Prize, SASE (2001) Maurice F. Strong Career Development Chair, MIT (2006–2009) Multiple fellowships from SSRC, Harvard, MIT, and CUNY Alfiere del Lavoro, awarded by the President of Italy (1984) Advising and Grants: While specific student advisees are not listed, Baccaro has supervised research and mentored scholars through his roles at MPIfG and the University of Geneva. He has secured substantial research funding, including grants from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and the Swiss Network for International Studies (SNIS), supporting projects on post-Fordist growth models, employment policy, and deliberative governance. His leadership in co-principal investigator roles highlights his collaborative research approach and institutional influence. Labs and Research Teams: As Director at MPIfG, Baccaro leads a major research institute focused on the study of societal and economic institutions. He has been instrumental in shaping research agendas on political economy and governance, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and international scholarly exchange.
Ralph Luetticke is a Professor of Economics at the University of Tübingen, affiliated with the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the Stone Centre on Wealth Concentration at University College London. His research focuses on fiscal/monetary policy, business cycles, and computational methods, emphasizing household heterogeneity. Key contributions include analyzing liquidity channels of fiscal policy, military multipliers, and unconventional policy shocks. Recent work explores military spending multipliers, endogenous gridpoint methods for distributional dynamics, and the distributional impacts of monetary policy. His 2023 ERC Starting Grant ('AIRMAC') supports research into aggregate uncertainty in business cycles. Teaching includes advanced macroeconomics courses at UCL and Tübingen, emphasizing HANK models and policy analysis. Scientific awards include the ERC Starting Grant (2023). Research tools developed include the BASE for HANK toolbox (Julia) and open-source codes for heterogeneous agent modeling. His work bridges theoretical macroeconomics with empirical policy analysis, addressing modern challenges like inequality and pandemic stimulus effectiveness.
Elizabeth A. Bennett, PhD, is a Full Professor of International Affairs (with tenure) and Director of Political Economy at Lewis & Clark College , Portland, Oregon. She holds visiting roles at the Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California – Berkeley , and will be a Senior Fellow at the Forum Basiliense, University of Basel (Switzerland) in 2025. Her work focuses on labor exploitation in globalized supply chains, voluntary sustainability standards, and equitable business models. Education : PhD in Political Science, Brown University (2014); MALD in Political Economy and Development, The Fletcher School at Tufts University (2014) Her research spans international relations, political economy, public policy, and sustainable development. Recent projects examine living wages in global supply chains and ethical consumerism in the cannabis industry. She co-edited The Handbook of Research on Fair Trade (2015) with Laura T. Raynolds. Her 2024 articles explore value chain profit-sharing, voluntary sustainability standards, and fair trade principles in cannabis. Earlier works analyze global governance, labor rights, and civic engagement. She has received fellowships from Harvard, Rutgers, and the J. Robert Beyster Foundation. Scientific Awards : J. Robert Beyster Fellowship (2022), Harvard Kennedy School Fellow, ongoing Rutgers Institute Fellow Dr. Bennett engages public policy through advisory roles with the United Nations Forum on Sustainability Standards , Global Organic Textile Standards Committee , and think tanks like IDOS . Her research is featured in The Guardian , PBS Nova , and The Oregonian .
Thorsten Schmidt is Professor of Mathematical Stochastics at the University of Freiburg, succeeding Prof. Ernst Eberlein in the summer semester of 2015. He also serves as Senior Financial Engineer at MathFinance. Previously, he held professorships at Chemnitz University of Technology (2008-2015), Technical University Munich (2008), and University of Leipzig (2004 onwards). From 2017-2019, he was a Research Fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS) in a joint research group with the University of Strasbourg and USIAS on the topic of Linking Finance and Insurance. His research focuses primarily on financial and actuarial mathematics, stochastic processes, and statistics, with recent work on machine learning methods and their applications in financial mathematics and AI regulation. In Freiburg, his goal with his young team is to tackle complex challenges with improved mathematical models and apply these methodologies to various fields. Key Research Areas: Financial mathematics and credit risks Pricing and hedging of derivative financial products Statistics of stochastic processes Energy markets and nonlinear filter theory Machine learning applications in finance and insurance His recent publications show a strong trend toward integrating machine learning with traditional mathematical finance, particularly in risk management, insurance-finance arbitrage, and robust financial modeling. His work increasingly addresses ethical considerations in AI applications within finance, reflecting his broader interest in responsible AI development. Notable Awards: IDA Award Finance (2015) FRIAS-USIAS Research Fellow (2017/2018) IDA Award Machine Learning and AI (2020) MAPFRE Research Grant (2020) Luis Bachelier Fellow (2021) As Editor-in-Chief of Statistics and Risk Modeling and Associate Editor for Mathematical Finance and International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance, Schmidt plays a significant role in academic publishing. He leads the CRC 'Small Data' research center with Harald Binder, focusing on medical problems where disease progression must be estimated with few data points per patient. His LeanAI project, funded by the Vector Foundation, explores the connection between machine learning and theorem-proving software LEAN, aiming to develop AI that can translate between mathematics and formal proof systems. His laboratory work centers around the application of stochastic methods combined with machine learning to solve problems in finance and insurance where data is limited ('Small Data' initiative), with significant funding from DFG (€12 million for CRC Small Data) and the Carl Zeiss Foundation.
Prof. Dr. Barbara Praetorius is a leading scholar in sustainability economics at HTW Berlin since 2017. She co-chaired Germany's Coal Commission ("Kommission Wachstum, Strukturwandel und Beschäftigung") and serves on advisory boards for Berliner Wasserbetriebe and VERBUND AG. Her work bridges climate policy, energy economics, and social equity, with a focus on Germany and the Global South. Research Themes: Climate economics, decarbonization pathways, renewable energy integration, and sustainable development in emerging economies. Policy Influence: Regular contributor to national climate policy debates, particularly on carbon pricing and coal phase-out strategies. Academic Roles: Professor at HTW Berlin's Department 3: Economics and Law since 2017, previously Deputy Director of Agora Energiewende (2014-2017). Recent Publications emphasize plug-in solar systems' socio-economic impacts, just coal transitions in Hesse, and ecological industrial policy frameworks. Her 2024 work on energy market transformation highlights the need for policy innovation and market redesign. Scientific Recognition : Ranked among Germany's most influential female economists by FAZ Active in EU energy policy advisory roles Recipient of BMBF research funding for international projects
Christian Bayer is a Professor of Economics at the University of Bonn , specializing in macroeconomics with a focus on inequality , heterogeneous agent models , and business cycles . His research explores the interplay between economic shocks and income inequality, emphasizing the role of financial frictions in shaping macroeconomic outcomes. Key Research Areas: Macroeconomics, Inequality, Heterogeneous Agent Models, Financial Frictions, Business Cycle Analysis Recent Publication Trends: 2024 work on U.S. business cycle inequality, monetary unions, and pandemic consumption dynamics; 2023 studies on fiscal policy liquidity channels, energy shock responses, and wage determinants. Scientific Awards: Three ERC Grants for inequality research Collaborative Approach: Bayer actively mentors young researchers through international collaborations and peer-to-peer team dynamics, fostering interdisciplinary work with economists like Benjamin Born, Ralph Luetticke, and Moritz Kuhn. He leads projects on topics such as monopsony in East Germany and HANK model applications. Contact: Department of Economics, University of Bonn; christian.bayer@uni-bonn.de
PD Dr. Johanna Stark is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, with a habilitation in private law, corporate law, tax law, and legal philosophy from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU). She holds a doctorate (Dr. jur.) from LMU (2016) and has conducted research at Yale Law School and Oxford University. Her expertise spans tax law, corporate governance, legal philosophy, and regulatory competition. She teaches tax law courses at LMU and has received awards including the Therese von Bayern Prize (2023) and the Otto Schmidt Prize (2020). Stark’s research focuses on cross-border tax justice, corporate legal frameworks, and the philosophical implications of regulatory markets. Recent lectures include keynotes on 'Taxing Excess Profits in Energy Sectors' (2023) and 'Law as a Contested Commodity' (2022). She is affiliated with organizations like the Society for Comparative Law and the German Lawyers' Association. Her publications include Law for Sale: A Philosophical Critique of Regulatory Competition (OUP, 2019) and articles in leading journals like Oxford Journal of Legal Studies . She advises on tax policy and corporate law, with a focus on EU and international legal frameworks.
Jon Wakefield is a Professor in the Department of Biostatistics at the University of Washington's School of Public Health, with additional appointments in the Department of Statistics. He maintains affiliations with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, and serves on technical advisory groups for the World Health Organization and United Nations on mortality assessment, child mortality estimation, stillbirths, and pre-term births. Wakefield's research focuses on spatial epidemiology, spatial demography, and small area estimation, with particular emphasis on estimating under-5 mortality in low and medium income countries. His work integrates hierarchical models for survey data, space-time models for infectious disease data, and ecological inference methods for both infectious and non-infectious disease contexts. He has made significant contributions to understanding the links between Bayesian and frequentist statistical procedures, developing innovative methods for spatial modeling and disease burden estimation. His publication record shows a strong focus on methodological development with practical applications in global health, particularly in mortality estimation, infectious disease modeling, and demographic analysis. Recent work has addressed critical issues in pandemic response, including excess mortality estimation during the COVID-19 pandemic and seroprevalence studies. His research increasingly incorporates advanced computational methods, including Template Model Builder and integrated nested Laplace approximations for spatial modeling. Fellow, American Statistical Association (2007) Guy Medal in Bronze, Royal Statistical Society (2000) Member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Wakefield leads significant research initiatives funded by NIH/NCI and NIH/NIAID, including projects on spatio-temporal epidemiology and statistical issues in AIDS research. He has developed influential software tools including SUMMER, surveyPrev, and SAE4Health, which enable sophisticated small area estimation and spatial analysis for public health applications. His work with WHO and UN technical advisory groups demonstrates the real-world impact of his methodological contributions to global health measurement.
Marcel Fratzscher serves as President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) and Professor of Macroeconomics at Humboldt University of Berlin. He holds membership on the Advisory Board of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and maintains a prominent public presence as a columnist for Zeit Online, Financial Times, and Project Syndicate. His research spans macroeconomics, financial markets, economic inequality, European integration, monetary policy, and gender distribution. Fratzscher critically examines the social market economy, focusing on how economic policies affect inequality across demographic groups. His expertise includes pension systems, labor market dynamics, migration economics, and climate policy impacts on industry. His approach combines rigorous academic analysis with practical policy recommendations, often challenging conventional wisdom in economic discourse. Fratzscher's recent publications reveal a consistent thematic focus on economic inequality and social justice. His articles analyze paradoxical trends like falling wage inequality alongside rising overall income inequality, discrimination in the workplace (including weight-based discrimination), and the economic costs of social issues like crime fear and gender-based violence. He consistently advocates for policy reforms in pension systems, minimum wage structures, migration policy, and housing markets. As an advisor and public intellectual, Fratzscher bridges academic research and policy implementation. His recommendations often challenge conventional wisdom, such as his arguments against the notion that migration is economically costly or that minimum wage increases necessarily harm employment. He has proposed innovative solutions like the 'Boomer solidarity tax' to address old-age poverty without burdening younger generations. Fratzscher leads DIW Berlin, one of Germany's premier economic research institutions, where he oversees research on critical economic and social issues facing Germany and Europe. The institute's Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) provides longitudinal data that informs much of his research on inequality and social dynamics. Under his leadership, DIW Berlin continues to shape economic policy debates through evidence-based analysis and forward-looking recommendations.
Prof. Dr. Alfons J. Weichenrieder is a Professor of Economics and Public Finance at Goethe University Frankfurt . His research focuses on international corporate taxation, fiscal federalism, public debt, redistribution policies, and tax morality. He serves on multiple advisory boards including the German Ministry of Finance and Leibniz ScienceCampus MaTax . As Managing Editor of FinanzArchiv , he contributes to public finance analysis. Education : Habilitation (2001) and Ph.D. (1995) from University of Munich Research Themes : Tax havens, EU fiscal policy, corporate tax incentives, environmental FDI interactions His recent work explores pro-rich inflation dynamics , green dividend mechanisms , and taxation-induced capital distortions . Collaborative projects span institutions like Oxford University , Norwegian School of Economics , and Deutsche Bundesbank . Scientific Recognition Top-100 German researcher in economics & finance (RESEARCH.COM, 2025) International Research Fellow, Oxford CBT CESifo Research Fellow Member, Norwegian Center for Taxation
Ewa Batyra is an Affiliate Researcher at the Laboratory of Fertility and Well-Being within the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR). Her work focuses on global demographic patterns related to fertility, family formation, and socioeconomic disparities. Key Research Areas: Fertility dynamics, child marriage, union formation, and the impact of education on demographic transitions. Geographic Focus: Global South, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. Recent Trends: Batyra's publications analyze post-disaster fertility shifts, unintended pregnancy outcomes, and the role of income inequality in delaying parenthood. She employs cross-national datasets and advanced statistical methods like fixed-effects modeling. Collaborations: Works with institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania (Hans-Peter Kohler), University of Oxford (Tiziana Leone), and Brazilian research teams on fertility forecasting.
