About CEPA
The Center for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA) was founded in 2018 at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Potsdam and offers an attractive study and research environment: its evidence-based research is embedded in the economic policy sphere of the Potsdam-Berlin area.
Mission
Empirical evidence provides guidance in a world full of opinions. That is why at CEPA we conduct empirical research that is relevant to society, especially to economic policy-making. CEPA is embedded in a network of researchers and policy makers and also reaches out to the wider public. At the economics faculty we pass on the state-of-the-art methods by teaching the next generation. Learn more about our three pillars of work: research, outreach, teaching.
Research
CEPA puts its main focus on policy-relevant economic research in a broad range of topics. This includes labour markets, inequality, human behaviour, economic growth and sustainability. We aim at not only evaluating economic policy already in place but also to give guidance for effective policy design based on rigorous theory and sound empirical evidence. To facilitate scientific exchange we run our weekly Potsdam Research Seminar in Economics (PRSE), where faculty members and external guests present and discuss new research projects.
For an overview on our recent research output see: CEPA Discussion Papers Series.
Teaching
At CEPA, we pass on the mindset and the skillset needed for evidence-based policy-making to the next generation. With this we hope to contribute to firmly establishing evidence-based policy-making as a tradition in Germany. We offer a rigorous economics curriculum to Bachelor, Master and PhD students (in cooperation with the Berlin School of Economics). In addition to academic training, students from the University of Potsdam can gain crucial skills in economic policy analysis through CEPA’s Internship Program at our partnering institutions.
For more details on teaching activities visit the respective websites:
Bachelor programs in “Economics (Volkswirtschaftslehre)” and “Policy and Economics (Politik und Wirtschaft)”, Master/MSc in “Economic Policy and Quantitative Methods (EPQM)”, PhD Program at the Berlin School of Economics.
Outreach
CEPA actively contributes to the economics and policy networks in the Potsdam/Berlin area. To foster academic exchange and increase the impact of research on policy-making we host own workshops (e.g. PhD Workshop in Empirical Economics), policy events and lectures series (e.g. Causal Inference and Machine Learning with Guido Imbens from the Standford Graduate School of Business). Besides events we also disseminate our research in our own CEPA Discussion Paper Series.
To stay up-to-date on current outreach endeavours, visit our events page, follow us on LinkedIn, X, or subscribe to our newsletter.
Who we are
At the core of CEPA are its junior and senior faculty members, regular research guests and CEPA fellows (in the near future).
CEPA has partnered with three renowned research institutes from the Potsdam and Berlin area, that is the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and CEPA also cooperates with the Berlin School of Economics.