Second funding period for the Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224 – Economic Perspectives on Societal Challenges

The Collaborative Research Center Transregio 224 „Economic Perspectives on Societal Challenges: Equality of Opportunity, Market Regulation, and Financial Stability“, established in 2018, is a cooperation between the University of Bonn and the University of Mannheim. In various project fields, researchers are addressing three central societal challenges: How can equal opportunities be promoted? How can markets be regulated in view of the internationalization and digitalization of the economy? And how can the stability of the financial system be secured? The researchers see these challenges as inherently interconnected. The goal of the CRC TR 224 is to analyze them and make policy proposals to address them.

The research program of the CRC TR 224 will be complemented in the second funding period by two new projects on „Behavioral Determinants of Labor Market Inequalities“ and „Heterogeneity, Financial Frictions and Macroeconomic Stabilization“. The CRC TR 224 thus integrates a new labor market perspective on the one hand and broadens the macroeconomic focus of its research program on the other. The impact of the Covid 19 pandemic on the CRC's project fields will remain part of the research activities in the second funding period.

„In its first four years, the Collaborative Research Center has not only delivered scientific contributions at the highest international level, but has also established innovative and powerful structures in the promotion of young researchers and science communication,“ says economist Prof. Dr. Sven Rady of the University of Bonn. „As spokesperson for the first funding period, I am very proud of what has been achieved and look forward to the further development of our research network under the leadership of my Mannheim colleague Volker Nocke.“¹

„For many years, the universities in Bonn and Mannheim have already created an environment for cutting-edge economic research that is unique in Germany. The DFG's decision to continue funding the Collaborative Research Center on an even larger scale than before is the well-deserved result of these efforts, but above all it is a huge success for the researchers involved,“² emphasizes Prof. Volker Nocke, Ph.D. from the Mannheim Department of Economics, who will chair the Collaborative Research Center as its spokesperson for the next four years.

Funding amount for the new funding period: 11 million euros
Spokesperson: Prof. Volker Nocke, Ph.D., Abteilung Volkswirtschafts­lehre der Universität Mannheim
Co- Spokesperson: Prof. Dr. Sven Rady, Universität Bonn (Sprecher der ersten Förderperiode)

Original quotations:

1 „In seinen ersten vier Jahren hat der Sonderforschungs­bereich nicht nur wissenschaft­liche Beiträge auf höchstem internationalen Niveau geliefert, sondern auch innovative und leistungs­starke Strukturen in der Nachwuchs­förderung und der Wissenschafts­kommunikation aufgebaut. … Als Sprecher der ersten Förderperiode bin ich sehr stolz auf das Erreichte und freue mich auf die weitere Entwicklung unseres Forschungs­verbunds unter der Leitung meines Mannheimer Kollegen Volker Nocke.“

2 „Die Universitäten in Bonn und Mannheim haben schon seit vielen Jahren ein in Deutschland einmaliges Umfeld für ökonomische Spitzenforschung geschaffen. Die Entscheidung der DFG, den Sonderforschungs­bereich weiter und in noch größerem Umfang als bisher zu fördern, ist das wohlverdiente Ergebnis dieser Bemühungen, vor allem aber ein Riesenerfolg der beteiligten Forscher.“

Contact:
Prof. Volker Nocke, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Mannheim
Tel.: +49 621 181–3505
E-Mail: nockemail-uni-mannheim.de