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Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche FakultätInstitut für Wirtschaftspolitik

Ann-Kristin Becker, M. Sc. Econ.

Ann-Kristin Becker is a research associate and Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Economic Policy at the University of Cologne since summer 2021.

She is currently a visiting scholar at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. She holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics from the University of Lübeck and an M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Cologne. Ann-Kristin gained experience working as a Carlo-Schmid Fellow and as an consultant to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. Her research focuses on the economic impact of industrialisation and resource extraction on labour markets and the long-term effects of migration on economic cooperation. Ann-Kristin Becker also conducts research on climate policy.

Research Interests

  • Economic History

  • Climate Policy

  • Development Economics

  • Labor Economics

Work in Progress

  • "Local economic consequences of natural resource extraction. Evidence from German coal mining" 

  • Industrialization and the return to labor: Evidence from Prussia (with Erik Hornung)
    Industrialization is an important driver of economic prosperity and modern economic growth, yet its immediate impact on wages remains debated. Using novel panel data on wages of unskilled workers across more than 600 Prussian localities (1800-1879), we estimate the dynamic effect of industrialization (proxied by local heterogeneity in coal endowment) on labor income. Event study results show that wage differentials between coal and non-coal regions emerged once industrialization accelerated in the 1850s. Wage growth in coal regions is predominantly mediated by sectoral change towards manufacturing, reflecting productivity differentials across sectors, rather than technological progress or economies of scale.

  • Forced Melting Pot: The Impact of Exposure to Foreigners on Long-Term Economic Relations (with Carola Stapper)
    This paper investigates whether exposure to foreigners can influence long-term economic relationships. We explore this question within the context of forced labor in Germany during World War II. Exploiting the quasi-random distribution of foreign workers across German counties – a distribution not determined by prior migration patterns or existing economic ties – we identify the impact of temporary exposure to foreign nationals on future economic ties. We find that a greater presence of foreign workers of a given nationality increases the likelihood of town twinning and firm links between German counties and the workers' countries of origin after the war, with these effects persisting to the present. The effect is more pronounced in counties with larger agricultural and service sectors, where foreign workers had more interactions with local residents compared to those in the industrial sector. These findings suggest that contact with foreigners, even under involuntary conditions, can foster long-term economic and social collaboration.

  • Vulnerable entrepreneurs’ preferences for climate risk management: A discrete choice experiment with micro-enterprises in the Philippines (with Gerald Leppert & Alexandra Köngeter)
    Small enterprises are important contributors to economic development and local employment in low- and middle-income countries but are highly vulnerable to environmental hazards and climate extremes and have limited capacity to adapt to them.  This study assesses the preferences of micro-enterprises in the Philippines for risk management strategies as response to climate change. We conducted a discrete choice experiment with 625 randomly selected entrepreneurs to estimate their preferences for three strategies: improved information sharing and early warning; resilient and protective infrastructure; and climate risk insurance. Using a random parameter logit model, we estimate willingness to pay and compensating variation for all combinations of strategies and enterprise profiles. We find that entrepreneurs consider all strategies highly relevant, with climate risk insurance being the most preferred. Entrepreneurs show a higher willingness to pay for combined strategies, indicating a willingness to allocate at least 7.6 % of their net income to climate adaptation strategies. Female entrepreneurs are less willing to pay for any strategy, which may be explained by lower financial literacy. Furthermore, we show that participation in climate risk information events is associated with higher preferences for all strategies. We conclude that small enterprises show a significant but heterogeneous willingness to invest in climate risk management. Improving risk information and raising awareness may increase entrepreneurs' willingness to manage climate risks. Furthermore, expanding the availability of climate risk insurance is crucial to meet the high demand among enterprises. The results of this study can guide policymakers to allocate funds for climate risk management more efficiently and promote needs-based climate adaptation policies to support vulnerable populations. 

 

Publications

2024

2023

2022

2021

Teaching at the University of Cologne

SS 2024

  • Exercise on Finance and Economic Policy

WS 2023/2024

  • Lecture Series: "Energy from an Economic Policy Perspective"

SS 2023

  • Exercise on Finance and Economic Policy

WS 2022/2023

  • Project Course in Economics - Scientific Argumentation in Public

SS 2022

  • Exercise on Financial and Economic Policy
  • Seminar Dialogue Young Researchers and Practitioners: "Migration from an economic policy perspective"

 

 

Institut für Wirtschaftspolitik an der Universität zu Köln
Pohligstraße 1, 50969 Köln, Tel.: +49 (0)221 470-5347, E-Mail: iwp(at)wiso.uni-koeln.de