Current research

• Exposure to World War II and Its Labor Market Consequences over the Life Cycle (with J. Stuhler), IZA DP 16040, latest version. Summary: Kiel Institute, IZA World of Labor. Media Coverage: DW, N-TV, Reuters, SRF, Welt. Accepted at The Journal of Economic History.
• Forced Migration and Industry Diffusion (with R. Franke, A. Lichter, and S. Ottinger), in progress.
• Skilled Labor Inflows and Economic Growth: Theory and Evidence from Post-War Germany (with R. Franke, S. Stricker, and F. Trouvain), in progress.
• Confessional Politics, Political Fragmentation, and the Nazi Electoral Breakthrough (with T. Öztürk), in progress.
• Protestantism, Industrialization, and the Fertility Decline (with R. Franke and T. Öztürk), in progress.

Selected publications

• Open access: Reversing Fortunes of German Regions, 1926-2019: Boon and Bane of Early Industrialization? (with P. Berbée and R. Franke), Journal of Economic Growth, 2025, 30(2): 307-337. Summary: ZEW.
• Open access: The Economic Consequences of Being Widowed by War: A Life-Cycle Perspective (with J. Stuhler), Journal of Public Economics, 2024, 239: 105241.
• Open access: Railways, Growth, and Industrialization in a Developing German Economy, 1829-1910 (with R. Franke), The Journal of Economic History, 2022, 82(4): 1183-1221. Accepted version here.
• Local Labor Markets and the Persistence of Population Shocks: Evidence from West Germany, 1939-70 (with A. Kramer, M. Kvasnicka and P. Meier), Journal of Economic Geography, 2021, 21(2): 231–260. Accepted version here.
• How do Regional Labor Markets Adjust to Immigration? A Dynamic Analysis for Post-war Germany (with H. Weber), Journal of International Economics, 2021, 129: 103416. Accepted version here. Summary: Bundesbank.
• Resettlement Location Shapes the Integration of Forced Migrants: Evidence from Post-war Germany (with N. Dwenger), Explorations in Economic History, 2020, 77: 101330. Accepted version here. Summary: VoxEU. Media Coverage: FAS.
• The Transmission of Inequality across Multiple Generations: Testing Recent Theories with Evidence from Germany (with J. Stuhler). The Economic Journal, 2018, 128(609): 576-611. Accepted version here. Media Coverage: ARD, BR Tagesgespräch, Handelsblatt, FAZ, Welt, ZEIT.
• Nuclear Power Plant Closures and Local Housing Values: Evidence from Fukushima and the German Housing Market (with T.K. Bauer and M. Kvasnicka). Journal of Urban Economics, 2017, 99: 94-106. Accepted version here. Media Coverage: FAZ, WAZ. Summary: Ökonomenstimme.
• Immigration and Sectoral Change: Evidence from Post-war Germany (with M. Kvasnicka). Journal of International Economics, 2014, 93 (2), 253–269. Summary: Ökonomenstimme.
• Implementing Quotas in University Admissions: An Experimental Analysis (with N. Dwenger, D. Kübler, A. Westkamp). Games and Economic Behavior, 2014, 85: 232-251.
• The Employment Effects of Immigration: Evidence from the Mass Arrival of German Expellees in Post-war Germany (with T. Omar Mahmoud). The Journal of Economic History, 2014, 74 (1): 69-108. Media Coverage: Standard. Summary: Ökonomenstimme.
• The Economic Integration of Forced Migrants: Evidence for Post-war Germany (with T.K. Bauer and M. Kvasnicka). The Economic Journal, 2013, 123(571): 998-1024. Media Coverage: FAS. Summary: VoxEU. Selected for the EJ’s virtual issue on The Economics of Conflict.
• Men, Women, and the Ballot. Gender Imbalances and Suffrage Extensions in US States (with M. Kvasnicka). Explorations in Economic History, 2013, 50 (3): 405–426. Media Coverage: NYT (blog).