ZEW Economist Melanie Arntz Appointed Leibniz Professor at Heidelberg University

Professor Melanie Arntz, deputy head of the Research Department “Labour Markets and Human Resources” at the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, was appointed professor of economics with a focus on labour markets at Heidelberg University. The appointment, made jointly by ZEW and Heidelberg University, became effective on 1 October 2018. The professorship is funded by the Leibniz Programme for Women Professors of the Leibniz Competition 2018.

“I am very happy about the appointment. The Alfred Weber Institute for Economics of Heidelberg University offers excellent opportunities to build on my work at ZEW, where I investigate changes in labour markets caused by two megatrends of our time – digitalisation and globalisation,” says Melanie Arntz.

Thomas Kohl, director of ZEW, adds: “Melanie Arntz is an established expert in the field of ‘changing labour markets’ and has also extensive experience in providing scientifically-grounded policy advice. We are pleased to be able to strengthen the fruitful cooperation with Heidelberg University through her Leibniz professorship.”

Focus on the effects of digitalisation and globalisation on the labour market

As a Leibniz professor, Melanie Arntz heads a junior research group at ZEW, which focuses on the effects of digitalisation and globalisation on employment and income opportunities of workers. She is particularly interested in the dynamics of individual labour market careers in response to these phenomena and the impact of regional labour market conditions on related mobility processes such as spatial or occupational mobility.

Melanie Arntz studied geography at the University of Bonn and at the University of Minnesota with a focus on economic geography and regional labour markets. After that she studied economics and finished her doctoral thesis in empirical economics on “The Geographic Mobility of Heterogenous Labour in Germany” at TU Darmstadt in 2007. In 2009, she became the deputy head of the ZEW Research Department “Labour Markets and Human Resources” and assumed a junior professorship in labour economics at Heidelberg University, which is now being continued as a Leibniz professorship.

For further information please contact:

Prof. Dr. Melanie Arntz, Phone +49 (0)621-1235-159, E-mail melanie.arntz@zew.de