Alfred-Weber-Institute
The Alfred-Weber-Institute houses the University of Heidelberg Economics Department. The department is part of the Faculty of Economics & Social Sciences, which also includes the departments of Political Science and Sociology.
Workshop on International Financial Markets with Profs. Monika Piazzesi and Martin Schneider
Zeno Enders co-organized a workshop in the Heidelberg-Tübingen-Hohenheim Workshop Series on International Financial Markets, which brings together leading national and international scholars, as well as Ph.D. students, to discuss recent developments in the global economy and their implications for economic policy. The workshop took place in Stuttgart-Hohenheim on December 16 and 17, 2022. The keynote speakers were Monika Piazzesi and Martin Schneider (both Stanford University). Further information on the workshop series can be found here. December 2022
Expert Opinion on Election Procedures
The constitutional committee of the Parliament of Thuringia invited Christoph Vanberg to write an opinion on a proposed change to the rules used to elect the state’s prime minister. The existing rules involve up to three rounds of voting. The first two rounds involve absolute majority rule, i.e. a candidate is elected if he or she receives more than half of the votes. The third round (reached only if no candidate wins in round 1 or 2) involves plurality rule, i.e. the candidate who receives “the most votes” wins – even if he or she receives less than half of the votes cast. The proposed change concerned the special case that only one candidate runs in the third round. According to the proposal, such a candidate would have to receive a greater number of “yes” votes than “no” votes to be elected. Vanberg argues against the proposal on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the use of plurality rule in the third round, and that it creates incentives for candidates to strategically drop out in order to prevent another candidate from being elected. A link to the opinion can be found here. A link to the meeting of the constitutional committee can be found here. November 2022
Commentary on ECB Policy
In an opinion piece in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, AWI researcher Christian Conrad argues that the ECB’s inflation projections are informative for forecast horizons of up to three quarters only. By explicitly conditioning monetary policy on the behavior of the medium- to long-term projections, the ECB has overestimated its forecasting abilities, which partly explains why the ECB has responded to increasing inflationary pressures with a considerable delay. The opinion piece is based on a joint project with Zeno Enders and Gernot Müller (University of Tübingen) on the ECB's ability to forecast inflation. The article is available here. September 2022
Melanie Arntz appointed to World of Work Council of the BMAS
Melanie Arntz has been appointed to the World of Work Council (Rat der Arbeitswelt), sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (BMAS). The council is an independent panel of international experts, responsible for the annual Arbeitswelt Bericht, which is prepared for the BMAS. More details can be found here. July 2022
Workshop Survey Data and Probabilistic Expectations
Christian Conrad, Fabian Krüger (KIT), and Lora Pavlova (KIT) organized the workshop ”Survey Data and Probabilistic Expectations” at the Marsilius-Kolleg, Heidelberg University, June 2/3, 2022. The program is available here. June 2022
Commentary on ECB Policy II
An article in the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung discussed the latest decisions by the European Central Bank (ECB) in light of the current high inflation rates (see here). In the article, AWI macroeconomist Zeno Enders critically comments on the arguments of the ECB regarding distinct monetary-policy reactions following demand or supply shocks. Several researchers at the AWI are involved in research on the current challenges faced by monetary policy. Christian Conrad and Zeno Enders were panel discussants at a ZEW conference on the ECB's monetary policy. Their contribution was based on a joint project with Gernot Müller (University of Tübingen), in which they analyze the ECB's ability to forecast inflation. Joep Lustenhouwer explores effects of central-bank projections and how forecast revisions change in the presence of news. June 2022
Fritz Grunebaum Awards
Onno Kleen (now at Erasmus University Rotterdam, see here) has been awarded the Fritz-Grunebaum-Award 2021 for the outstanding doctoral thesis in the field of economics or commercial law. Information about the award and about the ceremony that took place on December 17 can be found here. During this year’s ceremony, the Fritz-Grunebaum-Award has also been awarded to Christian König-Kersting (now at University of Innsbruck, see here), for the outstanding thesis in the year 2020, because last year’s ceremony could not take place in person. Both recipients joined the ceremony in Heidelberg to accept their awards in person. December 2021
Commentary on ECB Policy
In an opinion piece in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, AWI researchers Christian Conrad and Zeno Enders, together with Gernot Müller of Tübingen University, criticize the European Central Bank for relying on too optimistic inflation forecasts, given its own past inflation forecasts. The article is available here. A longer version of the text was also published on the website Ökonomenstimme. This research is related to the DFG Priority Program “Experience & Expectation: Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour,” which focusses on expectations and experiences of economic decision makers (see here for more information). December 2021
Containing Inflation?
A contribution in the magazine Wirtschaftswoche asked the question whether inflation should be contained by price controls (see here). In the article, AWI macro economist Zeno Enders comments on the risk of misallocation potentially caused by such price distortions. Several researchers at the AWI are currently involved in measuring inflation and inflation expectations. Research on inflation expectations of consumers by Christian Conrad, and of businesses by Zeno Enders, is supported by the DFG Priority Programme “Experience & Expectation: Historical Foundations of Economic Behaviour” (see here). December 2021
AWI Ranks 7th in Germany in Handelsblatt Ranking of the Most Productive Economics Departments
The Alfred-Weber Institute has been ranked 7th in Germany and 14th in the German-speaking countries (D, AU, CH) in the 2021 Handelsblatt Ranking of the most productive economics departments. Details can be found here. October 2021
Workshop on Economic Expectations
Together with Jonas Dovern (Nuremberg) and Gernot Müller (Tübingen), AWI macro economist Zeno Enders organizes a workshop on "Heterogeneity of Macroeconomic Expectations" in Nuremberg (Oct. 7-8, 2021). The workshop is part of the DFG priority program "Experience and Expectation", in which the Alfred Weber Institute participates through multiple projects. October 2021
Christiane Schwieren participated as a panelist in the "Plan W conference" organized by the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, on September 21-22. She was part of the panel “Wissenschaftlerinnen vor!” on careers of women in science and academia. For details refer to the conference website linked here. September 2021
Junior Research Group on Macroeconomic Expectations: Hiring
Junior Professor Joep Lustenhouwer is now hiring doctoral students for the research group on Macroeconomic Expectations. Find the job ad here. The positions require some knowledge of German language. Deadline is November 11, 2021. September 2021
Junior Research Group on Macroeconomic Expectations
Junior Professor Joep Lustenhouwer has received funding from the Hans Böckler Foundation (Hans-Böckler-Stiftung) for a junior research group with three PhD students for the duration of three years. The topic of the junior research group is “Expectation Formation in Macroeconomics and its Implications for Monetary and Fiscal Policy”. The PhD students will analyze expectations survey data, conduct laboratory experiment and build macroeconomic models to advance the understanding of macroeconomic expectations and give policy recommendations. The funding includes scholarships and traveling budgets for the PhD students as well as funds to organize workshops. More information on Joep’s research can be found here. June 2021
Language Policy – Financial Times
The research of AWI researcher Rajesh Ramachandran has been covered in the Financial Times (here). Rajesh’s work considers the role of colonial and indigenous languages on economic outcomes and development. More information on Rajesh’s research can be found here. June 2021
Special Issue in honor of Jürgen Eichberger
The journal Theory & Decision published a special issue on "Ambiguity and Strategic Interactions" in honor of Alfred-Weber-Institute emeritus Jürgen Eichberger, which was edited by Adam Dominiak, Ani Guerdjikova, and Jörg Oechssler. A number of current and former members of the Alfred-Weber-Institute contributed to the special issue, which can be accessed electronically here. May 2021
New volatility model MF2-GARCH
AWI researcher Christian Conrad and Nobel Laureate Robert Engle of NYU propose a new multiplicative volatility model which exploits the empirical fact that the daily standardized forecast errors of one-component GARCH models behave counter-cyclical when averaged at a lower frequency. The new volatility model (MF2-GARCH) has been implemented in the Volatility Lab (V-Lab, https://vlab.stern.nyu.edu/) at New York University Stern School of Business. V-Lab provides real time measurement, modeling and forecasting of financial volatility and correlations for a wide spectrum of assets. The MF2-GARCH is estimated for more than 10.000 assets and volatility forecasts for up to one-year-ahead are computed on a daily basis. For example, for S&P 500 volatility forecasts see: https://vlab.stern.nyu.edu/analysis/VOL.SPX%3AIND-R.MF2-GARCH. April 2021
Language and Economic Development
AWI Researcher Rajesh Ramachandran studies the role of language in economic development. In particular, he is interested in the role of publishing in the language of the ordinary people rather the language of the leading class affects the dissemination of knowledge in the economy. In this podcast of January 22, 2021, you can learn more about his research and insights. January 2021
Publication Award
The paper "African Leaders and the Geography of China’s Foreign Assistance," published in the Journal of Development Economics by Axel Dreher, former AWI researcher Andreas Fuchs, and coauthors, has been selected the winner of the International Geneva Award 2020 of the Swiss Network for International Studies. More information can be found here. January 2021
Timo Goeschl on Tipping Points
Timo Goeschl participated in a 3sat television science show on tipping points on December 10, 2020. Together with their host, the guests were exploring the science of tipping points and regime shifts in natural, social, and socio-ecological systems. The broadcast can be accessed here. December 2020
Christian Conrad appointed Fellow of the Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis (RCEA)
Fritz-Grunebaum-Award for Christian König genannt Kersting
Christian König genannt Kersting has been awarded the Fritz-Grunebaum-Award for outstanding doctoral theses in the field of economics or commercial law. Information on the award can be found here. Information on Christian König’s research can be found on his website at the University of Innsbruck, where he took a position after his PhD at the Alfred-Weber-Institute. The award ceremony will take place on November 6, 2020. October 2020
Ranking of influential economists
AWI researcher Friedrich Heinemann has been included in a ranking of the 100 most influential economists in Germany (here). The Ranking aggregates impact in the media and among policy makers, as well as research impact. In Heidelberg he teaches courses on European fiscal policy (here). September 2020
Luck or skill, and legal consequences
AWI researchers Peter Dürsch, Marco Lambrecht and Jörg Oechssler have developed a method to assess the degree to which a game’s outcome depends on luck or skill. Determining the degree of luck and skill for games is important, as regulation of gambling relies on such assessments. For example, is poker a game of skill, or game of luck? A summary of the research and interview with the authors can be founds here (in German). The published article can be found here. September 2020
New Blog: Economic Crises as Opportunity
Heidelberg University’s Chair for Economic History started a blog on the potential consequences of the current crisis for labor relationships and work environments, especially focusing on the opportunities created by unexpected economic shock. The blog can be found here (In German:
New Study on the Effects of China’s Development Assistance
Axel Dreher’s research "Aid, China, and Growth: Evidence from a New Global Development Finance Dataset" with Andreas Fuchs, Bradley Parks, Austin Strange, and Michael Tierney has been accepted by the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. The paper introduces new data on Chinese official financing to 138 countries over the 2000-2014 period. The authors find that Chinese Official Development Assistance boosts economic growth and does not impair the effectiveness of aid from other donors. You can find the article here. July 2020
German Economic Association: Committee on Macroeconomics
Zeno Enders has been admitted to the standing field committee on macroeconomics of the German Economic Association. He is already member of the standing field committees on monetary economics and international economics. June 2020
Mobile app for mental model mapping
A new app, called M-Tool, has been developed by Karlijn van den Broek and collaborators that allows users to capture people’s perceptions of complex systems (or mental models) with mobile devices, and can be tailored to map perceptions of any system or phenomenon. Respondents create visual diagrams of a particular system by organizing relevant factors and linking them. This is the first tool that can be used by all kinds of stakeholders, as it does not require the respondent to read or write. Thanks to the standardized set-up of the tool, you can directly compare the perceptions of groups of respondents. The app can now be downloaded for free in app stores, see www.m-tool.org for more information and the link to the appstores. May 2020
Thesis Award
Alice Solda received the 2019 Dean's commendation for outstanding doctoral thesis award from Queensland University of Technology for her PhD thesis "Overconfidence
Best Paper Award for Paper on Cryptocurrencies
The article “Long- and Short-Term Cryptocurrency Volatility Components: A GARCH-MIDAS Analysis“ by Christian Conrad, Anessa Custovic and Eric Ghysels has won the 2019 Journal of Risk and Financial Management best paper award. The study investigates economic forces behind movements in Bitcoin volatility. It shows that Bitcoin volatility is negatively related to US stock market volatility (which is atypical for volatility co-movements across financial markets) but positively related to the S&P 500 volatility risk premium. Bitcoin volatility behaves pro-cyclical. The paper can be accessed here. January 2020
Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association
Dietmar Fehr and Stefan Trautmann participated in the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in San Diego. Dietmar Fehr presented the paper “Poverty, Seasonal Scarcity, and Exchange Asymmetries” in a session on “Psychology of Poverty” (organized by Dietmar). Stefan Trautmann presented the paper “Social Class and Unethical Behavior: Causal versus Correlational Evidence” in a session on “Inequality and Distributional Preferences” (organized by Paul Smeets). January 2020
Workshop on the Macroeconomics of International Financial Markets
Together with researchers of the University of Tübingen and University of Hohenheim, Zeno Enders organized a workshop on International Financial Markets on December 13 & 14, 2019, at the IWH in Heidelberg. Prof. Harald Uhlig (Chicago) presented the keynote speech on the economics of cryptocurrencies. Detailed information on the workshop is available here. December 2019
Workshop on Experimental Economics for the Environment: Call for Papers
Johannes Diederich, Florian Diekert, Timo Goeschl will organize the Fifth Workshop on Experimental Economics for the Environment in Heidelberg, February 19-20, 2020. They invite submissions of abstracts until December 1st, 2019. More details can be found in the call for papers, available here. November 2019
Workshop on Experimental Economics and Finance
Stefan Trautmann organized a workshop on Experimental Economics and Finance, on November 8, 2019. Invited speakers were Markus Dertwinkel-Kalt (Frankfurt School of Finance), Daniela Puzzello (Indiana), Joachim Vosgerau (Bocconi) and Roman Sheremeta (Cleveland). More information is available here. November 2019
Fritz Grunebaum Award
Valentin Lang, former doctoral student of Axel Dreher, has received the Fritz Grunebaum-Preis of the University of Heidelberg foundation for his thesis: "Political Decisions, Economic Effects: How International Organizations Govern the Globalized Economy." Details can be founds here. November 2019
Emotions versus Rationality?
Christiane Schwieren will present insights on the role or emotions versus sober calculative processes in economic and health decisions at a symposium at the International Science Festival in Heidelberg, December 4, 2019. The symposium will bring together economic, psychologic and neuroscience perspectives. More information is available here. November 2019
Associate Editorship at Macroeconomic Dynamics
Zeno Enders has been appointed Associate Editor of the journal Macroeconomic Dynamics. September 2019
Academy for Transformational Leadership
Karlijn van den Broek has been selected for the Postdoc Academy for Transformational Leadership, funded by the Robert-Bosch-Stiftung. The 2-year program is designed to train the next generation of leaders in sustainability and transformation research in Europe. More information is available here. July 2019
Keynote Lectures by AWI Professors
Zeno Enders gave a keynote lecture on “Expectations in Macroeconomics” at the second Workshop on Macroeconomic Research at the Cracow University of Economics, Cracow, June 25-26. Stefan Trautmann gave a keynote lecture on “Risky Decisions for Others and Financial Investment Advice: Experimental Evidence” at the 2019 Shanghai Workshop on Behavioral and Experimental Economics, Shanghai University of Economics and Finance, Shanghai, June 24-25. June 2019
Jürgen Eichberger, Jörg Oechssler, Christopher Kops, Illia Pasichnichenko, and Hannes Rau attended the Conference in Honor of Jürgen Eichberger, „Ambiguity & Strategic Interactions” on May 24, 2019, organized by the Université Grenoble Alpes, France. They presented the following studies at this occasion: "Games in Context: Equilibrium under Ambiguity for Belief Functions” (Eichberger), “Hedging, Ambiguity, and the Reversal of Order Axiom” (Oechssler), “The Independence Axiom and its Weakenings” (Kops), “Does mutual knowledge of preferences lead to more Nash equilibrium play? Experimental evidence” (Rau).” More details can be found here. May 2019
International Ranking of Economics Departments
In a recent international ranking of economics departments conducted by Tilburg University, the AWI was ranked 126 worldwide, and 7 out of 69 departments in Germany. The ranking does not control for department size. Details on the ranking are available here. May 2019
New Assistant Professorship in Environmental Economics
We welcome Anca Balietti as an assistant professor in environmental economics at the Alfred-Weber-Institute. Anca joins the AWI from Harvard University, where she was a Post-Doc at the Evidence for Policy Design lab. You can find information on Anca’s research, which lies at the intersection of environmental and development economics, here. April 2019
MINE: Mapping the Interplay between Nature and Economy
Funding for research on macroeconomic expectations
Jonas Dovern accepted full professorship in Erlangen-Nürnberg
Jonas Dovern will take over the Chair for Statistics and Econometrics at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) as of April 1, 2019. Jonas has been an assistant professor in macroeconomics at Heidelberg since 2014. More information about his research, centered around questions of macroeconomic forecasting and beliefs, can be found here. February 2019
Workshop on the Macroeconomics of International Financial Markets
Together with researchers of the University of Tübingen and University of Hohenheim, Zeno Enders organized a workshop on International Financial Markets on December 7 & 8, 2018. Detailed information on the workshop and access to the papers presented at the workshop is available here. December 2018
Dissertation Fellowship of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation
Matthias Quinckhardt of the Chair for Labor Economics has been awarded a dissertation fellowship by the German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes). The foundation will support Matthias’ doctoral research into the political economy of regional policies. Information on Matthias’ research can be found here. November 2018
Committee on Compliance in Norwegian Fisheries
Florian Diekert has been appointed a member of the expert committee of the Norwegian government studying compliance in Norwegian fisheries. The committee gives recommendations on how to improve the efficacy and efficiency of monitoring efforts, in particular in light of the opportunities and challenges that new technologies bring. More information is available here. October 2018
Weatherall Fellowship at Queens University in Canada
Jürgen Eichberger was awarded a Weatherall Fellowship at Queens University in Canada. In the context of his fellowship, he presented the study “Decision Theory with a State of Mind Represented by an Element of a Hilbert Space: The Ellsberg Paradox,“ and gave a mini-course on game theory with strategic ambiguity for graduate students and research staff. More information is available here. October 2018
Professorship in Environmental, Climate and Development Economics
Andreas Fuchs was appointed Professor for Environmental, Climate and Development Economics at the Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg jointly with the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW). He was a post-doc at the AWI from 2013 to 2018. More information on Andreas’ research and on the activities in the context of his new position can be found here. September 2018
ICAP Best Paper Award
Karlijn van den Broek received the best paper award of the International Conference on Applied Psychology and Human Behavior for her work on the MultiTip project, a collaboration between environmental economists, psychologists and mathematicians. The paper proposes a stakeholder engagement framework to develop sustainable-behavior research, illustrated through a case study of stakeholder engagement at Lake Victoria, East Africa. More information on the conference can be found here, information on Karlijn’s work can be found here. July 2018
