Jan Behringer is Head of Unit (Macroeconomics of Income Distribution) at the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) in Düsseldorf, Germany. His main research interests are: Macroeconomics of income distribution, empirical macroeconomics, and economic policy.

By this expert

Getting Out of the Rat Race: Is an "Age of Leisure and Abundance" Possible?

Article | May 26, 2022

Keynes promised shorter working hours and greater prosperity by now. As remote as it sounds, that vision is still possible.

Income Distribution and the Current Account: A Sectoral Perspective

Paper Conference paper | | Dec 2013

We analyse the link between income distribution and the current account for the period 1972-2007. We find that rising (top-end) personal inequality leads to a decrease of the current account, ceteris paribus.

[PART 2] U.S. Current Account Deficits and German Surpluses: The Role of Income Distribution in Global Imbalances

Article | Nov 6, 2013

In our two papers, we analyze how changes in personal and functional (wages versus profits) income distribution interact to produce different macroeconomic outcomes in different countries. On the basis of a stock-flow consistent model calibrated for the United States, Germany, and China, simulations suggest that a substantial part of the increase in household debt and the decrease in the current account in the United States since the early 1980s can be explained by the interplay of rising (top-end) household income inequality and certain institutions (e.g. easy access to credit, privately financed education and health care systems).