Dr. Kati Krähnert

The aim of my research is to provide new insights on the impact of climate change on households in developing countries, applying state-of-the-art methods, in order to advise policy stakeholders. A major part of life in many developing countries is coping with extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods, and storms, as well as gradual changes caused by climate change. In these countries, public safety nets and formal insurance are often quite limited, unable to prevent a vicious cycle of poverty, extreme events, and underdevelopment. In my research, I investigate these issues from an applied microeconomic perspective. I also evaluate the effectiveness of policy measures designed to strengthen the resilience of households. Empirical research on household-level adaptation to climate change in developing countries is constrained by a lack of longer-term panel data. To overcome this limitation, most of my research builds on novel, carefully designed household panel data which I collect with my team in the field. To implement my research agenda, I acquire large-scale research grants that are funded, for example, by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Volkswagen Foundation.

Work in progress

Mogge, L., McDonald, M., Knoth, C., Teickner, H., Purevtseren, M., Pebesma, E., & Kraehnert, K. Allocation of humanitarian aid after a weather disaster (submitted).

Mogge, L. & Kraehnert, K. The effect of risk perception on the demand for index insurance in Mongolia (under review).

Murken, L., Mager, G., Laudien, R., Kraehnert, K. & Gornott, C. The influence of land conflicts on farmers' perceived tenure security and title acquisition: Evidence from Tanzania (under review).

Lehmann-Uschner, K. & Kraehnert, K. When shocks become persistent: Household-level asset growth in the aftermath of an extreme weather event.

Journal articles

Fluhrer, S. & Kraehnert, K. (2022) Sitting in the same boat: Subjective well-being and social comparison after an extreme weather event. Ecological Economics, 195, 107388.

Roeckert, J. & Kraehnert, K. (2022) Extreme weather events and internal migration: Evidence from Mongolia. Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, 6(1), 1-34.

Will, M., Backes, A., Campenni, M., Cronk, L., Dressler, G., Gornott, C., Groeneveld, J., Habtemariam, L. T., Kraehnert, K., Kraus, M., Lenel, F., Osgood, D., Taye, M., & Müller, B. (2021). Improving the design of climate insurance: combining empirical approaches and modelling. Climate and Development, 1-10.

Kraehnert, K., Osberghaus, D., Hott, C., Habtemariam, L., Wätzold, F., Hecker, L. P. & Fluhrer, S. (2021) Insurance against extreme weather events: An overview. Review of Economics 72(2), 71-95.

Teickner, H., Knoth, C., Bartoschek, T., Kraehnert, K., Vigh, M., Purevtseren, M., Sugar, M. & Pebesma, E. (2020) Patterns in Mongolian nomadic household movement derived from GPS trajectories. Applied Geography 122, 102270.

Kraehnert, K., Brück, T., Di Maio, M. & Nisticò, R. (2019) The effects of conflict on fertility: Evidence from the genocide in Rwanda. Demography 56(3), 935-968.

Bertram-Huemmer, V. & Kraehnert, K. (2018) Does index insurance help households recover from disaster? Evidence from IBLI Mongolia. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 100(1), 145-171.

Groppo, V. & Kraehnert, K. (2017) The impact of extreme weather events on education. Journal of Population Economics 30(2), 433-472.

Lehmann-Uschner, K. & Kraehnert, K. (2017) Food intake and the role of food self-provisioning. Journal of Development Studies 53(8), 1303-1322.

Groppo, V. & Kraehnert, K. (2016) Extreme weather events and child health: Evidence from Mongolia. World Development 86, 59-78.

Giesbert, L. & Schindler, K. (2012) Assets, shocks, and poverty traps in rural Mozambique. World Development 40, 1594-1609.

Schindler, K. (2010) Credit for what? Informal credit as a coping strategy of market women in Northern Ghana. Journal of Development Studies 46(2), 234-253.

Brück, T. & Schindler, K. (2009) Smallholder land access in post-war Northern Mozambique. World Development 37(8), 1379-1389.

Brück, T. & Schindler, K. (2009) The impact of violent conflicts on households: What do we know and what should we know about war widows? Oxford Development Studies 37(3), 289-309.

Policy reports

Kraehnert, K., Hott, C., Osberghaus, D., Hecker, L. P., Wätzold, F., Habtemariam, L. T., & Fluhrer, S. (2021). Versicherung von Klimarisiken: Zwischen privater Vorsorge und staatlicher Intervention. Hintergrundpapier zum 10. Forum Klimaökonomie. Kiel: Kieler Institut für Weltwirtschaft (IfW).

Kraehnert, K. & Bertram-Huemmer, V. (2018) Indexbasierte Wetterversicherung hilft Haushalten, sich von extremen Wetterereignissen zu erholen. DIW Wochenbericht 40/2018.

Kraehnert, K. & Groppo, V. (2018) Folgen extremer Wetterereignisse hindern viele Kinder in der Mongolei am Schulbesuch. DIW Wochenbericht 40/2018.

Lehmann-Uschner, K. & Kraehnert, K. (2018) Extreme Wetterereignisse bedrohen die Lebensgrundlage der Viehhalter in der Mongolei. DIW Wochenbericht 40/2018.

Bug, M., Kraehnert, K. & Kroh, M. (2015) Kriminalität und Innere Sicherheit: Objektive Lage und Wahrnehmung durch Medien und Politik: Editorial. Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 2, 5-10.

Groppo, V. & Kraehnert, K. (2014) Die Auswirkungen von extremen Wetterereignissen auf die Größe von Kindern: Evidenz aus der Mongolei. DIW Wochenbericht 46/2014.

Schindler, K. (2011) Neue Chancen für Frauen in Nachkriegs-Gesellschaften? Der Fall Ruanda. DIW Wochenbericht 4/2011.

Giesbert, L. & Schindler, K. (2011) Das Erbe des Bürgerkrieges in Mosambik: Landbevölkerung verharrt in Armut. DIW Wochenbericht 4/2011.

German Federal Foreign Office
title        Early Action Cash Transfers: Randomized impact evaluation of a new instrument in humanitarian
                aid (CashEval)
grant      200 000 € total, budget for my group: 53 000 €
duration 02/2021 – 04/2023
my role  Applicant and project leader

BMBF
title        Dealing with climate risks (UmRisk)
grant      141 000 €
duration 10/2019 – 10/2022
my role  Applicant and project leader

BMBF
title        Assisting households to adapt to climate change (ADAPT)
grant      811 000 €
duration 05/2019 – 10/2022
my role  Applicant, project leader and PI

Volkswagen Foundation
title        Herders coping with hazards in Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia (HAZARDS)
grant      579 000 € total, budget for my group: 162 000 €
duration 05/2015 – 04/2019
my role  Co-applicant (joint with E. Pebesma), project leader and PI

BMBF
title        Coping with shocks in Mongolia (Shocks Mongolia)
grant      663 000 €
duration 02/2012 – 09/2016
my role  Co-applicant (joint with T. Brück), project leader and PI

• University Meets Microfinance Award for PhD students awarded to my co-author V. Bertram-Hümmer for our joint paper on index insurance (2015)
  
• Selected for the mentoring program of Leibniz Association (2013)
  
• Postdoc research scholarship for research stay at Yale University awarded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (2011-2012)
  
• Short-term scholarship to conduct PhD field research in Mozambique awarded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (2008)
  
• Short-term scholarship to conduct PhD field research in Rwanda awarded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) (2007)
  
• PhD scholarship awarded by DIW Berlin (2005-2009)
  
• Full academic scholarship awarded by Wake Forest University, US (2001-2002)