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Economics and Finance
Germany
2026
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Political Science
Germany
2026

D-Index & Metrics

Political Science

D-Index
94
Citations
31584
World Ranking
13
National Ranking
1

Economics and Finance

D-Index
95
Citations
31740
World Ranking
134
National Ranking
2

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Economics and Finance in Germany Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Political Science in Germany Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Economics and Finance in Germany Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Political Science in Germany Leader Award
  • 2024 - Research.com Economics and Finance in Germany Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Economics and Finance in Germany Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Law and Political Science in Germany Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Political Science in Germany Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Economics and Finance in Germany Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Law and Political Science in Germany Leader Award
  • 2018 - Member of Academia Europaea

Overview

Axel Dreher is affiliated with Heidelberg University in Germany and conducts research primarily within the social sciences. Their work spans several research topics and subfields, with a focus on international development and aid, economic growth, and political economy issues.

The main fields of study covered by Dreher's research include:

  • Social Sciences

The subfields Dreher has contributed to are:

  • Development
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • Safety Research
  • Economics and Econometrics
  • Information Systems

Key topics addressed in their research consist of:

  • International Development and Aid
  • Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
  • Economic Growth and Development
  • Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth
  • Religion, Society, and Development
  • Migration and Labor Dynamics
  • Local Government Finance and Decentralization

Dreher's recent papers include:

  • "Aid, China, and Growth: Evidence from a New Global Development Finance Dataset" (2021) published in American Economic Journal Economic Policy
  • "Aid and growth: New evidence using an excludable instrument" (2020) published in Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d économique
  • "Bilateral or Multilateral? International Financial Flows and the Dirty-Work Hypothesis" (2021) published in The Journal of Politics
  • "Connective Financing - Chinese Infrastructure Projects and the Diffusion of Economic Activity in Developing Countries" (2020) published in SSRN Electronic Journal
  • "Is Favoritism a Threat to Chinese Aid Effectiveness? A Subnational Analysis of Chinese Development Projects" (2021) published in World Development

Frequent coauthors working with Dreher include:

  • Andreas Fuchs
  • Bradley C. Parks
  • Austin Strange
  • Michael J. Tierney
  • Sarah Langlotz

Dreher has published extensively in venues such as:

  • SSRN Electronic Journal
  • Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d économique
  • World Development
  • Harvard Dataverse
  • AEA Randomized Controlled Trials

The scientist has authored books including a publication with Cambridge University Press titled "Banking on Beijing" (2022).

Axel Dreher has been recognized with awards, notably becoming a Member of Academia Europaea in 2018.

Best Publications

  • Does Globalization Affect Growth? : evidence from a new Index of Globalization

    Axel Dreher

  • Measuring Globalisation: Gauging Its Consequences

    Axel Dreher;Noel Gaston;Pim Martens

  • Corruption and the Shadow Economy: An Empirical Analysis

    Axel Dreher;Friedrich G. Schneider

  • Greasing the wheels? The impact of regulations and corruption on firm entry

    Axel Dreher;Martin Gassebner

  • Development aid and international politics: does membership on the UN Security Council influence World Bank decisions?

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;James Raymond Vreeland

  • IMF and Economic Growth: The Effects of Programs, Loans, and Compliance with Conditionality

    Axel Dreher

  • Global Horse Trading: IMF loans for votes in the United Nations Security Council

    Axel Dreher;Jan Egbert Sturm;James Raymond Vreeland

  • Does US Aid Buy UN General Assembly Votes? A Disaggregated Analysis

    Axel Dreher;Peter Nunnenkamp;Rainer Thiele

  • The Economic Costs of Corruption: A Survey and New Evidence

    Axel Dreher;Thomas Herzfeld

  • HAS GLOBALISATION INCREASED INEQUALITY

    Axel Dreher;Noel Gaston

  • Are 'New' Donors Different? Comparing the Allocation of Bilateral Aid between Non- DAC and DAC Donor Countries

    Axel Dreher;Peter Nunnenkamp;Rainer Thiele

  • Cross-country determinants of life satisfaction: exploring different determinants across groups in society

    Christian Bjørnskov;Axel Dreher;Justina A. V. Fischer

  • Development aid and international politics

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;James Raymond Vreeland

  • Apples and Dragon Fruits: The Determinants of Aid and Other Forms of State Financing from China to Africa

    Axel Dreher;Andreas Fuchs;Bradley Parks;Austin M. Strange

  • Aid, China, and Growth: Evidence from a New Global Development Finance Dataset

    Axel Dreher;Andreas Fuchs;Bradley Parks;Austin M. Strange

  • CORRUPTION AROUND THE WORLD: EVIDENCE FROM A STRUCTURAL MODEL

    Axel Dreher;Christos Kotsogiannis;Steve McCorriston

  • How do institutions affect corruption and the shadow economy

    Axel Dreher;Christos Kotsogiannis;Steve McCorriston

  • The impact of globalization on the composition of government expenditures: Evidence from panel data

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;Heinrich W. Ursprung

  • The influence of globalization on taxes and social policy: An empirical analysis for OECD countries

    Axel Dreher

  • The bigger the better? Evidence of the effect of government size on life satisfaction around the world

    Christian Bjørnskov;Axel Dreher;Justina Anastasia Valerie Fischer

  • Independent Actor or Agent? An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of U.S. Interests on International Monetary Fund Conditions

    Axel Dreher;Nathan M. Jensen

  • IMF conditionality: theory and evidence

    Axel Dreher

  • The Political Economy of the United Nations Security Council: Money and Influence

    James Raymond Vreeland;Axel Dreher

  • China's Development Finance to Africa: A Media-Based Approach to Data Collection

    Austin M. Strange;Bradley Park;Michael J. Tierney;Andreas Fuchs;Andreas Fuchs

  • DOES HIGH INFLATION CAUSE CENTRAL BANKERS TO LOSE THEIR JOB? EVIDENCE BASED ON A NEW DATA SET

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;Jakob de Haan

  • Rogue aid? An empirical analysis of China's aid allocation

    Axel Dreher;Andreas Fuchs

  • Determinants of Donor Generosity: A Survey of the Aid Budget Literature

    Andreas Fuchs;Axel Dreher;Peter Nunnenkamp

  • Politics and IMF Conditionality

    Axel Dreher;Jan Egbert Sturm;James Raymond Vreeland

  • Government decentralization as a disincentive for transnational terror? : an empirical analysis

    Axel Dreher;Justina A. V. Fischer;Justina A. V. Fischer;Justina A. V. Fischer

  • Do IMF and World Bank Influence Voting in the UN General Assembly

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm

  • The Impact of Political Leaders' Profession and Education on Reforms

    Axel Dreher;Michael J. Lamla;Michael J. Lamla;Sarah M. Lein;Sarah M. Lein;Sarah M. Lein;Frank Somogyi

  • The Impact of Globalization on the Composition of Government Expenditures: Evidence from Panel Data: evidence from panel data

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;Heinrich W. Ursprung

  • Development Aid and International Politics: Does Membership on the UN Security Council Influence World Bank Decisions?; KOF Working Papers

    Axel Dreher;Jan-Egbert Sturm;James Raymond Vreeland

Frequent Co-Authors

Peter Nunnenkamp
Peter Nunnenkamp Kiel Institute for the World Economy
James Raymond Vreeland
James Raymond Vreeland Princeton University
Christian Bjørnskov
Christian Bjørnskov Aarhus University
Stephan Klasen
Stephan Klasen University of Göttingen
Friedrich Schneider
Friedrich Schneider Johannes Kepler University of Linz
Pim Martens
Pim Martens Maastricht University
Panu Poutvaara
Panu Poutvaara Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Dierk Herzer
Dierk Herzer Helmut Schmidt University

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