Prof. Dr. Martin Höpner

Current Research Focus and Topics

The main focus of my research lies in comparative political economy. In my PhD dissertation I explored changes in corporate control in Germany, and in my habilitation the political dynamics of organized capitalism and its transition to a market-based variety of capitalism.

Since 2008 I have been leading the Research Group on the Political Economy of European Integration, which is located at the intersection between comparative political economy and integration research. The group is particularly interested in the political economy of the eurozone and “integration through law”; in other words, that part of European integration that does not come about through directives or agreements, but through how European law is interpreted by the European Commission and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) as supranational agencies.

Beyond my main research focus, I am particularly interested also in all issues relating to comparative policy research, theories on the interaction between politics and economics, constitutionality, institutional theory, political governance theories, capitalism theories, and problems of Europeanization.