My research examines the political economy of inequality in the long run. I investigate how historical institutional arrangements governing the state, the family, and markets shape the distribution of wealth, gender disparities, and social mobility over centuries.
A central theme of my work is the persistence of inequality: why economic disparities were already pronounced at the onset of industrialization and how institutional structures generated and reproduced these patterns over time. Drawing on newly constructed archival micro-data, I combine historical analysis with modern economic methods to identify the mechanisms linking institutions to distributional outcomes.
By integrating economic history with political economy and applied economics, my research seeks to clarify the deep institutional foundations of inequality and development.
Publications
The Unequal Spirit of the Protestant Reformation: Particularism and Wealth Distribution in Early Modern Germany. Journal of Economic Growth, 2025.
The Political Economy of Inequality in Preindustrial Europe. The Journal of Economic History, 2025. (PhD summary)
Poverty in Germany from the Black Death until the Beginning of Industrialization (with Guido Alfani and Victoria Gierok). Explorations in Economic History, 2025.
Urban Political Structure and Inequality: Political Economy Lessons from Early Modern German Cities. The Journal of Economic History, 2024.
Measuring Historical Inequality in Germany (with Thilo Albers and Charlotte Bartels). German Economic Review, 2024.
Warfare and Economic Inequality: Evidence from Preindustrial Germany (c.1400-1800). Â Explorations in Economic History, 2023.
Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Germany: ca. 1300 - 1850 (with Guido Alfani and Victoria Gierok). The Journal of Economic History, 2022.
Selected Public Outreach
VoxEU: "Economic inequality in pre-industrial Germany: A long-run view"
La Fonte: "Urban political structures and the historical roots of wealth inequality"
EUI Newsletter: "Beyond Weberian Growth: The Impact of the Protestant Reformation on Inequality and Poverty in the Long Run of History"
Book Project
Believe or Not Believe? The Economic History of the Protestant Reformation (under contract with Cambridge University Press)
Working Papers & Ongoing Projects
Dividing the Spoils: Inheritance Institutions and Gender Inequality before Industrialization (with Sheilagh Ogilvie). CEPR Working Paper.
Inheritance and Inequality in a Pre-Modern Economy (with Sheilagh Ogilvie)
Inequality and Social Mobility in Preindustrial France (with Guido Alfani)
The Emergence of Heavy-Tailed Urban Distributions (with Thilo Albers and Timo Stieglitz)