Matthias Giesecke
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
c/o Universität Duisburg-Essen
Lehrstuhl für Finanzwissenschaft
Raum R11 T06 C32
Universitätsstraße 12
45117 Essen
Tel. +49 201 183 4721
Matthias Giesecke joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He studied economics at Freie Universität Berlin, where he mainly focused on public finance with respect to empirical questions of the welfare state, growth theory and econometrics. During his studies, he spent one year abroad at Université Pierre Mendès France in Grenoble (France). Matthias Giesecke worked as a student research assistant in the department of the Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin). Furthermore, he interned at the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF, Berlin). In his diploma thesis, Matthias Giesecke examined longitudinal patterns of earnings volatility in Germany, using administrative data of the German federal pension insurance.
Main fields of interest: Earnings Volatility, Earnings Inequality, Social Security
Michael Kind
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftstheorie - Wettbewerbstheorie und -politik
Gebäude GC, Raum 2/149
Universitätstraße 150
44801 Bochum
Tel. +49 234 32 26912
Fax +49 234 32-14311
Michael Kind joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He finished his studies of economics at the Ruhr-University Bochum after seven semesters. During his studies he focused on econometrics, macroeconomics and human resource management. In his diploma thesis "Life satisfaction and intergenerational effects of unemployment" (supervised by Prof. Dr. John P. Haisken-DeNew) he empirically investigated the intergenerational effects of parental unemployment on the children's life satisfaction using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). In addition to his studies he interned at the RWI Essen and worked voluntary as a student representative. He also gave tutorials in statistics at the Ruhr-University Bochum (chair of quantitative analysis).
Main fields of interest: Labor Economics, Applied Econometrics
Nozim Komilov
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
c/o University of Duisburg-Essen
Department of Economics
Chair of Macroeconomics
Prof. Dr. Ansgar Belke
Universitätsstraße. 12
45117 Essen
Tel. +49 201 183-xxxx
Nozim Komilov joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He obtained his bachelor in International Economics from the University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent in 2006, after which he earned his Master degree in Models and Methods in Quantitative Economics (QEM), an Erasmus Mundus Master Program, from University of Paris1, Pantheon-Sorbonne, Bielefeld University and University of Ca Foscari in Venice. During his studies he focused on Economic theory and Financial Economics. In his Master thesis "PSO: an alternative approach in Portfolio Optimization" (supervisor: Prof. Marco Corazza) he studied and empirically analyzed the possibility to apply Particle Swarm Optimization, an artificial intelligence optimization tool, in the constrained optimization problems often encountered by the financial institutions.
Main fields of interest: Macroeconomics and Economic Policy, Monetary and Financial Economics, Applied Econometrics
Benjamin Niestroj
Technische Universität Dortmund
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Fakultät
Volkswirtschaftslehre (Makroökonomie)
Vogelpothsweg 87
D-44227 Dortmund
Tel. +49 231 755-5403
Fax +49 231 755-3069
Benjamin Niestroj joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He studied Economics at Technische Universität Dortmund and Strathclyde University in Glasgow (United Kingdom). In his diploma thesis "Euler Equations and Money Market Rates" (supervisor: Prof. Dr. Andreas Schabert) he focused on theoretical and empirical implications of consumption Euler equations which serve as transmission mechanism of monetary policy in modern macroeconomic models. Specifically he examined a new approach to calculate interest rates implied by Euler equations from macroeconomic data using methods of multivariate time series analysis. During his studies he worked as a student research and teaching assistant for the Macroeconomics and Applied Economics chairs at Technische Universität Dortmund. Furthermore he interned at the Economic Research department of Deutsche Bank AG's Corporate and Investment Bank branch in Frankfurt am Main and the Strategy Development department of Daimler AG in Stuttgart. Beside his studies Benjamin Niestroj is an active member of an Amnesty International action group.
Main fields of interest: Macroeconomics, Monetary and Financial Economics, Econometrics, Energy Economics
Sarah Okoampah
Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
Lehrstuhl für Wirtschaftstheorie - Wettbewerbstheorie und -politik
Gebäude GC, Raum 3/55
Universitätstraße 150
44801 Bochum
Tel. +49 234 32-23938
Fax +49 234 32-14311
Sarah Okoampah joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. She studied Economics at the University of Hamburg and focused on econometrics. In her diploma thesis (supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas Straubhaar) she empirically investigated self-selection mechanisms regarding the return migration decision of immigrants as well as the influence of both these mechanisms and cohort effects on cross-sectional wage assimilation measures using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). In addition to her studies Sarah Okoampah interned at the RWI Essen and worked as a grading assistant at the Department for Statistics and Econometrics at the University of Hamburg.
Main fields of interest: Applied Microeconometrics, Labor Economics
Björn Sossong
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
c/o Universität Duisburg-Essen
Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften Lehrstuhl für Volkswirtschaftslehre
insb. Gesundheitsökonomik (Raum SM 109)
Schützenbahn 70
45117 Essen
Tel. +49 201 183 2539
Björn Sossong joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics (RGS) in October 2009. He studied business administration at European Business School, Oestrich-Winkel and international management at Thunderbird - The Garvin School of International Management, Glendale (USA). His main subject was finance with a focus on capital markets. In his diploma thesis he analyzed the long-term effect of terrorist attacks on international stock markets. Before joining the RGS, Mr. Sossong had been a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group for two years.
Main fields of interest: Health economics, Applied microeconomics, Game theory
Christoph Strupat
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
c/o RWI
Hohenzollernstr. 1-3
45128 Essen
Tel. +49 201 8149-509
Fax +49 201 8149-500
Christoph Strupat joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He studied economics at the Ruhr-University Bochum and the Stockholm University. During his studies he focused on econometrics and macroeconomics. In his diploma thesis "Labour market effects of enterprise taxation in Germany" (supervisor: Prof. Dr. Thomas K. Bauer) which was written in cooperation with the public finance department of the RWI Essen, he examined the incidence of enterprise taxes in Germany. In particular he empirically analysed whether an increase in nominal and effective enterprise tax rates negatively effects the gross wage and the number of employees using a variety of estimation models like the General-Methods of Moments estimator. In addition to his studies he worked as an intern and student assistant at the RWI Essen. After his studies he worked as an intern and consultant at the Good Financial Governance program of the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in Ghana.
Main fields of interest: Empirical public finance, Labour Economics, Development Economics
Guanzhong Yang
Ruhr Graduate School in Economics
c/o University of Duisburg-Essen
Faculty of Economics - Chair Prof. J. Brosig
Universitätsstraße. 12
45117 Essen
Tel. +49 201 183-3126
Guanzhong Yang joined the Ruhr Graduate School in Economics in October 2009. He studied finance at the University of Nanjing (China) from 2002 to 2004. In 2005 he enrolled at the University of Heidelberg where he received a diploma in Economics in 2009 (Diplom-Volkswirt). In his diploma thesis, he examined theoretically and empirically the relationship between human capital and economic growth. As an intern at the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW Mannheim) he participated in a research project concerning the development of Chinese climate policy.
Main fields of interest: Experimental Economics