Prof. Dr. Christoph Trebesch
Professor, Department of Economics, Kiel University
Director of Research Area "International Finance", Kiel Institute for the World Economy
Founder of the Geoeconomics Initiative in Kiel (since 2022) and the Kiel-CEPR Geoeconomics conference
Founder of the Ukraine Support Tracker
PI, ERC Consolidator Grant "International Finance and the Great Powers, 1800-2020"
My Google Scholar page
Please contact me via email: christoph.trebesch@ifw-kiel.de
News and Initiatives:
I joined the Board of Editors of the Amercian Economic Review
Initiatives in the field of Geoeconomics and Defense Economics:
I lead the CEPR Research Network on Geoeconomics and Security, including scholars on geoeconomics and defense economics
We just launched the Next-Geo Program to train the next generation of junior researchers in geoeconomics, together with Bocconi, CEPR and Oxford
In 2021, I founded the Geoeconomics Initiative in Kiel
In 2022, I organized the first high-level Kiel-CEPR Geoeconomics Conference, now in its 4th year
In 2024 and 2025, I co-organized two events at the Munich Security Conference: Guns vs Butter in the 21st Century and How to Finance Europe's Rearmament
In April 2022, I launched the Ukraine Support Tracker, now a global reference point on Ukraine aid that is regularly discussed at EU, G7 or NATO summits
My 2023 ERC Consolidator Grant on "International Finance and the Great Powers, 1800-2020" studies how geopolitics has shaped global capital flows and investor returns over the past 200 years. Specifically, I ask: How does geopolitics and great power rivalry determine the level, composition and direction of international capital flows? How do geopolitical shocks such as wars affect financial returns.
In 2024, we launched a new, rigorous PhD program at the Kiel Institute. I am the Founding Dean of this new "Kiel Advanced Studies Program". We could attract two great first cohorts as well as outsanding external lecturers. Please spread the word!
I won the 2024 Gossen Award by the Verein für Socialpolitik, the most prestigious award given to German economists
Between 2022 and 2024 I lead the CEPR Network on International Lending and Sovereign Debt and hosted a monthly Webinar on the topic
Recent Publications:
Geoeconomics, with Cathrin Mohr, Annual Review of Economics, 2025
China's Lending to Developing Countries: From Boom to Bust, with Sebastian Horn and Carmen Reinhart, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 2025
Populist Leaders and the Economy, with Manuel Funke and Moritz Schularick, American Economic Review, 2023
Sovereign Debt in the 21st Century, with Kris Mitchener, Journal of Economic Literature, 2023
Sovereign Bonds since Waterloo, with Josefin Meyer and Carmen Reinhart, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2022
Political Booms, Financial Crises, with Helios Herrera and Guillermo Ordonez, Journal of Political Economy, 2020
Working Papers:
Hegemonic Globalization, with Fernando Broner, Alberto Martin and Josefin Meyer, 2025
States as Financiers: Official Lending in War and Peace, with Sebastian Horn and Carmen Reinhart, 2026
Guns and Butter: The Fiscal Consequences of Rearmament and War, with Johannes Marzian, 2025
Wars, Threats and the Sovereign Bond Market, with Jonathan Federle, Robin Greenwood, Josefin Meyer, Carmen Reinhart, 2025
Digital Chokepoints (very preliminary, new version very soon), with Michael Porcellacchia and Benjamin Wache, 2025
Geoeconomics and Conflict: A Review, with Eoin McQuirk, 2025
Africa's Domestic Debt Boom, with Mark Manger, David Mihaliy, Ugo Panizza, Niccolò Rescia, and Ka Lok Wong, 2025
China as an International Lender of Last Resort, with Sebastian Horn, Brad Parks and Carmen Reinhart, NBER Working Paper 31105, R&R JIE
Sovereign Debt: A Data Survey - I prepared a broad-based survey for the NBER Summer Institute 2023
Ukraine Support Tracker: Which countries help Ukraine and how? with Arianna Antezza, André Frank, Pascal Frank, Lukas Franz and Ekaterina Reinskaya. Paper and regularly updated database here