GERMANY: Cologne
Research
The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPI)is a cutting-edge, state-funded research institute whose research brings an institutionalist perspective to “questions of political economy in a world of internationalizing nation-states, and on the remaining capacities of national political systems in an international economy and society” (MPlfG Report1999-2002: 3). MPI employs about 50 researchers, including senior and junior researchers and visiting scholars. The institute has links with the University of Cologne, the City of Cologne, and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia.
Some of the research questions that the Max Planck Institute seeks to address are:
> How does external change affect functions and structures of governance across nation states?
> How do transnational and supranational governance systems, such as the European Union, operate and perform?
> What is the interplay between institutions of multilevel governance systems at the European and international levels? (MPlfG Report 1999-2002: 10-12).
MPI Research Projects 1999-2002
Multilevel Problem Solving in European Public Policy
Research question: what is the problem solving “capacity of public policy at national and European levels in a period of growing economic and institutional integration?” (MPlfG Report1999-2002: 14)
Research director: Fritz W. Scharpf
Regime Competition and Integration in Political Economy
Research focus: “historical evolution of national social and economic institutions under the impact of internationalization, both of markets and of regimes of governance” (MPlfG Report 1999-2002: 16)
Research director: Wolfgang Streeck
Science, Technology and Systems of Innovation
Research focus: “the development and governance of large technological systems […] and […] the operation of science as a social system” (MPlfG Report 1999-2002: 19).
Research directors: Volker Leib and Raymund Werle
For the latest information on MPI research activities, visit the research program page of the MPI website.
MPI researchers
Research areas: comparative political institutions; comparative political economy; tax policy; methods and philosophy of the social sciences
Steffen Ganghof, who earned his doctorate in Political Science, examines reforms in welfare state financing by analyzing how the mix of taxes and contributions, types of taxes in this mix, and the level of total contributions, have contributed to financing welfare state reform.
Research areas: fiscal adjustment strategies of welfare states, religion and the welfare state
Philip Manow, who completed his “Habilitation” in Politics and Administration at the University of Konstanz in 2002, has directed the MPI research group on Politics and Political Economy since 2002. He is involved in four research projects at MPI: the Opportunity Costs of Welfare Reform, Office-Motives Versus Policy-Motives in Portfolio Allocation, Politics and Administration: the German Case in Historical and Comparative Perspective, and the Welfare State as Nation State. His research explores welfare state reforms alongside other policy adjustments that governments have made under fiscal stress.
He also analyzes the role of religion in the development of welfare states, arguing that many contradictions of Esping-Andersen’s three world typology can be solved once one accounts for the impact of Catholicism, Protestantism, and in particular the Lutheran state church on the one hand, and reformed Protestantism (Calvinism, Non-conformism, Dissent, etc.) on the other hand.
Research areas: comparative industrial relations; unions and parties; institutional theory
Britta Rehder, who obtained her doctorate in Political Science at Humboldt University in Berlin in 2001, has been a researcher at the Max Planck Institute since 2002. Her work deals with the concession pacts that employers and unions collaborated on after multinational employers threatened layoffs and plant relocation in the early 1990’s. These concession pacts, which are nurtured by conditions of high levels of unemployment, which create pressure on organized labor to concede, may involve different work time arrangements, or wage reductions. Britta Rehder’s research is based on agreement documents, surveys, and newspaper reports.
Research areas: organizational problems and decision-making processes in government; multi-level governance in Germany; political economy of inflation and unemployment in Western Europe; federalism and European integration; applications of game theory; comparative political economy of welfare states
Fritz Scharpf, who earned his doctorate in law at the University of Freiburg in 1964 and also completed his “Habilitation” at the University of Freiburg, has co-directed MPI since 1986.
Research areas: industrial relations; labor market policies; theories and practices of neo-corporatism
Wolfgang Streeck, who completed his “Habilitation” in Sociology at the University of Bielefeld in 1986, is Professor of Sociology in the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the University of Cologne, and has been MPI’s Research Director since 1995. His current research projects include the German “Alliance for Employment;” the study of business associations in an internationalized economy; continuity and discontinuity in institutional analyses; and institutional complementarities and the dynamics of economic systems
Research areas: comparative labor market policy and social policy; theories of institutional change and political governance; methods of comparative analysis; corporatism
Christine Trampusch, who earned her doctorate in 2000, has been a researcher at the Max Planck Institute since 2001. She is working on two projects at MPI: one of her research projects explores how the historical development of the relationship between the state and unions and employers has affected social policy-making in Germany since the 1960’s. The other study analyzes how the organization of industrial relations in Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. has affected the relationship between unions and welfare states.
Research areas: interaction of technological and institutional innovations; Internet evolution and development; Internet governance; political and social repercussions of the Internet
Raymund Werle, who earned his doctorate in Political Science, is Principal Research Associate at Max Planck Institute.
Datasets
For information on statistical datasets, visit MPI library’s Source OECD Statistics.
Library access
Inequality Fellows will have borrowing rights at the MPI library.
Research seminars
MPI organizes a Monday seminar for doctoral students that meets on a weekly basis. MPI also organizes conferences and workshops several times per year. In September, MPI usually organizes a two-week long Summer School on a topical area or methods, to which international speakers are invited.
Practical information
Accommodation
MPI owns three apartments for guest researchers (see photo tour). The monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment amounted to 400 to 500 euros in 2003. These apartments, which are located right next to MPI, need to be reserved six months in advance of your stay. The main source of practical information at MPI is Ms. Gabi Breunig at breunig@mpi-fg-koeln.mpg.de. The International Office at the University of Cologne also provides information on housing. The cost of renting a studio apartment on the private housing market in Cologne was between 300-400 euros per month in 2003.
Health insurance
The US State Department provides extensive information on health insurance for Americans traveling abroad.
Office space and computer access
Inequality Fellows will get office space at MPI, including a computer and phone and Internet access.
Timing
The only month in which MPI does not offer seminars is August.
Transportation
Visit the city of Cologne’s website for information on local transportation. The monthly pass for public transportation in Cologne cost about 50 euros in 2003. The website of Deutsche Bahn provides information on train connections and fares in Germany, including information on the so-called “Bahncard” discount card. For a list of low-cost airlines operating in Europe, visit http://www.discountairfares.com/lcosteur.htm. To print out a location on a map, go tohttp://www.mappy.com./
Visa information
For the latest information on visas and residency permits (“Aufenthaltsbewilligung”), visit the websites of the University of Cologne’s International Office, the US State Department and the German Embassy in Washington, DC. Ms. Breunig at MPI has the forms to apply for a residency permit and to register with the local registry office (“Einwohnermeldeamt”).
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