Department of Economics

The University of Bonn’s Department of Economics is one of the strongest research departments in the field of economics in Europe. Through research and teaching, we aim to contribute to addressing major societal challenges and to provide impulses for effective and evidence-based economic policy. Our focus is on the education of young economists from the bachelor’s to the doctoral level.

Studying

Department

Research

Jobs

News

West German mothers work less than East German mothers.

Mothers in Western Germany work, on average, around two months less per year than mothers in Eastern Germany. More than three decades after German reunification, this indicates that significant differences in mothers’ work behavior persist. These findings come from a new study by Zainab Iftikhar (University of Bonn), Bastien Chabé-Ferret (Middlesex University), and JungJae Park (Yonsei University), which was funded by the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Bonn and Mannheim.

Awards for Excellence in Teaching in Economics Education

The Rectorate of the University of Bonn and the Faculty of Law and Economics award annual teaching prizes to lecturers who have demonstrated outstanding achievements in teaching. These awards recognize and highlight excellence in teaching at the University of Bonn.

Global Study shows: Most people cooperate

People around the world are more cooperative than we believe. This is shown by a new study in the renowned scientific journal Science, authored by Prof. Peter Andre (Goethe University Frankfurt), Prof. Teodora Boneva (University of Bonn), Prof. Dr. Felix Chopra (Frankfurt School of Finance), and Prof. Dr. Armin Falk (University of Bonn).

CHE Ranking 2026: Bachelor in Economics in the top group

The Bachelor’s program in Economics at the University of Bonn performs well in the latest university ranking by the Centre for Higher Education Development (CHE). The program is classified in the top group in 15 out of 18 evaluated criteria and achieves positive results both in fact-based indicators and in student surveys.

News

Events

Tuesday Jun 23, 2026

Ph.D. Inside Research Event

Juridicum

06:00 PM - 08:00 PM

The Bonn Econ Alumni Association invites you to another round of Inside Research featuring BGSE graduates Björn Höppner and Oleksii Hamaniuk, who will present ...

Friday Jul 17, 2026

Selten Lecture 2026 with Prof. Dr. Philipp Strack

Juridicum (University of ...

04:30 PM - 05:35 PM

The Selten Lecture, organized by ECONtribute and the Reinhard Selten Institute, brings leading international researchers to present their latest work each ...

Monday Sep 28, 2026 until Oct 09, 2026

Mathematics preliminary course

Juridicum

10:00 AM

Prepare for the start of your studies: The Mathematics preliminary course reviews key mathematical concepts from school that are particularly important for the ...

Tuesday Oct 06, 2026

Ambitions & challenges in data science & research data management

Wissenschaftszentrum Bonn

09:00 AM - 06:00 PM

A workshop on ambitions and challenges in data science and research data management will take place on October 6, 2026 (9:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) at the ...

Events

Overview of recent publications

“Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation”

The article “Homo cooperans: Understanding the nature of human cooperation” by Peter Andre, Teodora Boneva, Felix Chopra, and Armin Falk was published in Science.

"Labor Market Monopsony Power and the Dynamic Gains to Openness Reforms"

The article “Labor Market Monopsony Power and the Dynamic Gains to Openness Reforms” by Priyaranjan Jha, Antonio Rodriguez-Lopez, and Adam Hal Spencer was published in the International Economic Review.

“Life Expectancy, Age, and Patience”

The article “Life Expectancy, Age, and Patience” by Uwe Sunde, Armin Falk, and Johannes Hermle was published in the Economic Journal.

“An Endogenous Gridpoint Method for Distributional Dynamics”

The article “An Endogenous Gridpoint Method for Distributional Dynamics” by Christian Bayer, Ralph Luetticke, Maximilian Weiss, and Yannik Winkelmann was published by the Journal of Monetary Economics.

Further recent publications

Studying

The Department of Economics offers the degree programs BSc "Economics", BA "Economics" (2-subject or accompanying subject) and MSc "Economics".

Study Programs

PhD

Are you aiming for a doctorate? The Bonn Graduate School of Economics offers an English-language Doctoral Program (PhD) with an integrated Master in Economic Research for students from all over the world.

PhD Program

Institutions

Excellence Cluster

The ECONtribute Excellence Cluster in Economic Sciences conducts research on markets in the area of intersection between business, politics and society.

ECONtribute

Collaborative Research Center

The SFB TR 224 deals with equal opportunities, market regulation and financial market stability as societal challenges.

CRC TR 224

Institutes

The department is organized in a departmental structure encompassing scientific and teaching areas and is divided into five institutes for teaching and research.

Institutes