About Me
Born and raised in Northern Germany, I grew up between crop fields, cattle, and car factories. Trained in a double-degree program as a bank clerk at Volkswagen, Europe's largest car manufacturer, and equipped with a BA in business administration, curiosity drove me to the foreign shores of Economics. I began to study Economics at Free University Berlin. Intrigued by the questions raised, I enrolled in a master's degree in quantitative economics at University College Dublin, which houses Ireland's leading economics department.
Motivated to dig deeper, I took a position as a doctoral researcher at the Duesseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE) at Heinrich Heine University, one of the world's most renowned places to study industrial and competition economics. Supervised by the esteemed competition economist Justus Haucap, I conducted novel and independent research on competition in the academic publishing market and industrial economics in oligopoly markets, particularly on collusion and cartels. I applied cutting-edge microeconometric techniques to draw causal inference from statistical inquiries. I received my PhD in competition economics from DICE at HHU Duesseldorf in early 2024.
After a temporary position as Research Group Lead in Economic Policy at Walter Eucken Institute, Freiburg (DE), I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Ilmenau University of Technology to conduct timely empirical research on competition economics and the economics of science (and a combination of both!).
I am always open to new research and policy endeavors.
Economics Researcher
Trained as a banker and with a degree in business administration, I was intri-gued by the economics classes I took. It was the never-aging question of how we allocate scarce resources in a world with unlimited desires optimally. How do we foster innovation? How do we accelerate progress and unleash the beast of human creativity in our socie-ties? Studying in Berlin and Dublin, and conducting research in Duesseldorf, Freiburg, Leuven, Reading, and Fairfax, I focused on the economics of science, collusion, and governance. With cutting-edge microeconometric causal-inference tools, I try to make dissemi-nating research findings cheaper, faster, and more efficient. I try to help uncover business cartels better to increase social welfare.
Consultant and Communicator
Research is only as strong as its impact. I communicate my findings to the public and relevant stakeholders. I have media appearances in important news outlets in Germany and the United Kingdom. I write op-eds and guest posts for meaningful blogs in the economics profession. And lastly, I engage as an external consultant in empirical science policy to contribute to project evaluations that shall help maximize the social impact of taxpayer money. My work does not stop with the publication of findings. It has been featured in the media, for example, in the Economist, the Times of London, the Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and L'Equipe. It reached the then-German Federal Minister of Health and triggered a significant debate among library scientists in Germany.
Globetrotter
When you do research, you travel. Presenting and discussing my projects, methods, and ideas is essential to me. This brought me to places around Europe and in the US. When traveling, I always try to get some insights into local culture, habits, and ways of living. I am grateful for these insights and try to learn from them. Business trips are, therefore, not a burden but a bonus to my work. Always curious about other countries, cities, and places, this is an integral part of my everyday business.
Soccer Fan
Doing research, presenting at global conferences, and communicating my work leave little time for leisure. Still, if so, you'll find me at home and away games of my beloved soccer team, Hannover 96. Stuck in Germany's second division, supporting it is everything but a walk in the park. But as Dennis Bergkamp once said: "When you start supporting a football club, you don't support it because of the trophies, or a player, or history, you support it because you found yourself somewhere there; found a place where you belong."