Status: 11.10.2021 8:09 a.m.
Germany is running out of top economists. Those who want to make a career in economics research are often drawn to the USA. This is not only due to the money, but also to completely different factors.
“Brain Drain” – literally translated the drainage from the brain. The term stands for the emigration of highly qualified top employees. A phenomenon that is mainly known from lower-income countries. But Germany is also losing young talent in science and business.
Where are the best research conditions?
Michael Weber is one of those bright minds. After studying at the University of Mannheim, he emigrated to the USA in 2009, did his doctorate in Berkeley and is now Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago. The 37-year-old is doing research there with a focus on inflation expectations: a topic in which his expertise is currently in great demand.
During his time as a doctoral student at Berkeley, he realized that the decision to go to the USA was the right one. “Back then we had very close-knit support. When a lot of clever people from all over the world come together, a very stimulating work environment is created almost automatically.”
For Jan Pieter Krahnen, professor at the University of Frankfurt and director of the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research there, this is one of the main reasons why many young top talents go to the USA. “At some US universities there are around 40 professors in my department, in Germany there are at most a dozen.” Krahnen believes that there is a clear competitive disadvantage: “Generally speaking, in the science sector we are in an international market. The best talents go where they find the best conditions.”
More research, less teaching
Weber sees one of the most serious differences between Germany and the USA in the academic framework – for example in the weighting of teaching and research. While many of his colleagues in Germany rarely do research exclusively over a longer period of time, this is exactly what is in the foreground in the USA. “I spend about one quarter of the year teaching, the remaining three quarters I can devote almost exclusively to my research projects”.
Among other things, this means that significantly more is published in specialist journals in the USA. In a recently published ranking by the “Handelsblatt”, Weber took third place among German-speaking scientists under 40 years of age – a success that he would hardly have achieved in Germany. Another reason that speaks for the USA from Weber’s point of view is the exchange with politicians. “I have the impression that the expertise of top researchers is much more in demand in this country than is the case in Germany, for example.”
More competitiveness through an excellence strategy
The Excellence Initiative was launched in Germany around 16 years ago and has been continued as an Excellence Strategy for several years. The goal: to sustainably strengthen Germany as a science location and thus improve its international competitiveness. A good first step for Krahnen; but to advance top-level research has so far only really been successful in Mannheim and Bonn.
“We have to accept that the federal concept only works to a limited extent in science. If we want to compete internationally with the best universities, we need cluster formation. That means that we have three to four top universities.” The funds could then flow in a targeted manner and another problem could be resolved. Because the starting salaries in the USA are often twice as high as in Germany. To keep good people or to bring them back, Weber recommends paying more attention to the markets. “In the US, not every professor earns the same, there is a wide spread in salaries that corresponds to the market.”
Dissolve old structures
Krahnen would like to see even more openness for change processes at German universities in the future. “Only if we make research and teaching attractive for young top executives will we be able to bring the migrated talent back to Germany. Part of this process has to be to dissolve old structures. For example, abolish chairs based on the old principle.”
This has already happened in Frankfurt, but many other universities still work in very hierarchical structures. He does not yet know whether Michael Weber is going back to Germany. “When I went to the USA at the time, I had actually decided to return home at the age of 40. That’s three years from now.”