Climate policy is not implemented in a vacuum. It unfolds within institutions, is shaped by interests and power, and depends on public support. As the Political Economy group, we study the political and economic conditions under which climate policy becomes effective, durable, and socially accepted.
Some of the questions we ask include:
- Why do some climate policies endure — while others trigger political backlash?
- Why do similar instruments work in one country but fail in another?
We focus on global challenges — in particular on political and economic processes in low- and middle-income countries. Our work also helps understand the political dynamics that shape climate (in)action more generally.
Our Research Focus
We examine climate policy through five interconnected lenses:
Effectiveness
Do policies actually reduce emissions? Under what institutional conditions do they work — and when do they fail?
Distribution
Who bears the costs and who benefits? How can policy design and compensation shape equity and political feasibility?
Political Support
What are the preconditions for policy support? How do climate and energy policies affect trust in government, democratic satisfaction, and the risk of backlash?
Elites and Policy Dynamics
How do elite preferences, narrative supplypublic narratives, and policy sequencing influence politicalreform trajectories?
Just Transitions and Climate Finance
How can transition policies be designed in ways that are perceived as fair — domestically and internationally? What role does climate finance play in enabling equitable transitions?
Our Approach
We work cooperatively and interdisciplinarily at the intersection of economics and political science, bringing together quantitative and qualitative methods. Our research seeks to understand what policies are feasible and equitable, and speak to both the theory and practice of effective climate policies.
We combine economic and political analysis with close engagement in policy debates. To help translate research into public discourse, we have developed online tools to foster political and public debates on questions of political economy, including the carbon pricing incidence calculator, and we engage in science policy discussions across the world.
Our aim is to provide robust evidence on how climate policy can be designed to work in real-world political contexts — in advanced economies as well as in low- and middle-income countries. We maintain strong national and international networks and cooperations, inter alia through the Environment for Development (EfD) network, where we co-lead the Climate Policy and Development initiative. Our results are frequently picked up in international assessment processes, such as the IPCC or the UNEP Gap Report, where some team members also have served as (lead) authors and reviewers.
Our Team
We are an interdisciplinary team of postdocs, PhD students, research assistants, and our policy officer Theda, all led by Jan. Our alumni work in academia (e.g. University of Leiden, University of Wageningen), international organizations (e.g. World Bank), the German government (e.g. Ministry for Economic affairs) and the private sector. We frequently supervise master theses on the topics mentioned above.
