Welcome to my website!

I am Professor of Economics at Kiel University and Director of the Research Center "International Development" at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. 

I am mainly interested in the interplay of globalization and development. In my research, I focus on two aspects of this relationship: The mobility of people and capital. In each case, I am particularly interested in the effects and perceptions of policies that are used to affect these movements. Regarding migration, I have a broad research agenda with which I aim to contribute to policy-relevant questions related to migration-decision making, the effects of migration, and attitudes toward migration. I think there are great benefits to taking such a holistic approach to migration research for a more thorough understanding of migration and the effects of policy on it. I furthermore conduct research on foreign exchange interventions, i.e., one of the key macroeconomic policies countries can use to affect their terms of trade and important domestic issues such as inflation. Furthermore, I have started working on big economic questions that matter for developing countries, covering megatrends such as demographic change and the changing global geopolitical balance.

Across my different research topics, I work a lot on African countries. For this research, I regularly collect new primary data with traditional household surveys, experiments, and big data methods. 

I regularly provide advice to policymakers and expertise in the media, both communicating my research and providing a scientific perspective on political or economic developments in my areas of expertise.

At Kiel University, I currently teach Master's level courses in "International Development" and "Globalization in Developing Countries".