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Prof. Dr. Lukas Hakelberg

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C4.009a
Fon +49.4131.677-2031, lukas.hakelberg@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of Political Science, in particular Political Economy
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Cooperative Security (LCCS)

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Vita

Lukas Hakelberg is Professor for Political Economy at the Institute for Political Science at Leuphana University. His research interests lie at the intersection of Global, Comparative, and Historical Political Economy. His main object of study is the impact of global, societal, and historical factors on state financing. In particular, Hakelberg has analyzed the role of power and hegemony in negotiating global tax agreements. He also leads an ERC project group, analyzing the impact of colonial economic structures and racism on the emergence of tax havens in the Global South. 

Before coming to Leuphana, Lukas Hakelberg was a postdoctoral researcher at the Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin and in the Horizon 2020 project „Combatting Fiscal Fraud and Empowering Regulators (COFFERS)“ at the University of Bamberg. He defended his PhD in Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence in November 2016. Before joining the EUI’s PhD program, Hakelberg was a Blue Book Trainee with the Middle East unit of the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels and a research fellow with the Center for Environmental Policy at FU Berlin. He holds a master’s degree in Political Science from Freie Universität Berlin and a Diploma in European Affairs from Sciences Po Paris. 

Projects

  1. The Whiteness of Wealth Management: Colonial Economic Structure, Racism, and the Emergence of Tax Havens in the Global South
    Lukas Hakelberg (Project manager, academic) , Everton Carneiro da Silva (Project staff) , Nadja Spatzl (Project staff) , Kattalina M. Berriochoa (Project staff)
    →

    Project: Research

  2. Taxing Uber-Polluters: The Climate Crisis and Popular Support for Wealth Taxation
    Lukas Hakelberg (Partner) , Leo Ahrens (Partner) , Björn Bremer (Partner)
    →

    Project: Research

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Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Handbook on the Politics of Taxation
    Lukas Hakelberg (Editor) , Laura Seelkopf (Editor) , 2021 Cheltenham , 415 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  2. The Hypocritical Hegemon: How the United States Shapes Global Rules against Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , 2020 Ithaca , 191 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Book › Research

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Journal contributions

  1. Taxing uber-polluters: carbon inequality and support for wealth taxation to finance the green transition
    Leo Ahrens (Author) , Björn Bremer (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , 22.05.2026 , in: Climate Policy , 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. The great Caribbean divergence: colonial economic structure and the emergence of tax havens in the 'British West Indies'
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Leo Ahrens (Author) , Loriana Crasnic (Author) , 20.04.2026 , in: Review of International Political Economy , 32 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Trumpian Neomercantilism, European Fiscal Capacity and the Global Minimum Tax
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Aanor Roland (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Economists' Voice, 22, 2 , p. 237-253 , 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Transfer › peer-review

  4. Forced exit from the joint-decision trap: US power and the harmonisation of company taxation in the EU
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Journal of European Public Policy, 32, 6 , p. 1414-1438 , 25 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  5. A victim of regulatory arbitrage? Automatic exchange of information and the use of golden visas and corporate shells
    Leo Ahrens (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Thomas Rixen (Author) , 01.07.2022 , in: Regulation and Governance, 16, 3 , p. 653-672 , 20 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. Promote, ignore, pretend: The political economy of regulating tax havens
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Thomas Rixen (Author) , 05.12.2024 Cheltenham , p. 280-299 , 20 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  2. Introduction to the Handbook on the Politics of Taxation
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Laura Seelkopf (Author) , 14.09.2021 Cheltenham , p. 1-15 , 15 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Other › Research

  3. Power and resistance in the global fight against tax evasion
    Loriana Crasnic (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , 14.09.2021 Cheltenham , p. 293-308 , 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  4. Capital taxation and international cooperation: The causes and consequences of automatic exchange of information
    Leo Ahrens (Author) , Fabio Bothner (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Thomas Rixen (Author) , 18.02.2021 Oxford , p. 112-131 , 20 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  5. Redistributive Tax Co-operation: Automatic Exchange of Information, US Power and the Absence of Joint Gains
    Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , 01.01.2016 Colchester , p. 123-155 , 33 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

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Activities

  1. Coalition Formation and the Sovereignty of Tax Havens: Weighing Historical Evidence for the British West Indies
    Lukas Hakelberg (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  2. Coalition Formation and the Sovereignty of Tax Havens: Weighing Historical Evidence for the British West Indies
    Lukas Hakelberg (Speaker)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  3. Coalition Formation and the Sovereignty of Tax Havens: A Comparative Historical Analysis of the Bahamas and Bermuda
    Lukas Hakelberg (Speaker)

    Activity: Presentations (poster etc.) › Research

  4. Panel Discussion: Long-Term-Effects of Colonial Taxation and Fiscal Extraction on Economic Development
    Lukas Hakelberg (Speaker)

    Activity: Guest lectures › Research

  5. Coalition Formation and the Sovereignty of Tax Havens: A Comparative Historical Analysis of the Bahamas and Bermuda
    Lukas Hakelberg (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

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Press / Media

  1. Globale Mindeststeuer: Der G7-Deal mit den USA würde europäische Unternehmen benachteiligen
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. Unternehmen global besteuern: Wie sich die EU gegen Trump durchsetzen kann
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Globale Mindeststeuer: Warum die EU nun schnell verhandeln sollte
    1 time cited

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Pengeland: Verdens største skatteparadis
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  5. Die 100 wichtigsten Köpfe der Berliner Wissenschaft: Sie sind die Welterklärer
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Die 100 wichtigsten Köpfe der Berliner Wissenschaft 2023
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  2. ERC Starting Grant 2024-2029
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  3. Scholarship for PhD studies at the European University Institute (EUI)
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  4. Mobilitätsstipendium der deutsch-französischen Hochschule
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Transfer

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Courses

Introduction to Research Methods
Lukas Hakelberg, Johannes Lohse, Anna Lisa Ramella
This seminar offers a comprehensive, three-part introduction to research design in the social sciences.

Part I ("Navigating the Worlds of Science," Sessions 1–5) lays conceptual foundations: what distinguishes science from other knowledge production, key epistemological debates (positivism vs. subjectivism, qualitative vs. quantitative approaches), and different research goals (normative/positive, descriptive/explanatory/predictive). Students learn to identify and sharpen research questions, engage with theory through deduction, induction, and abduction, and move from abstract concepts to measurable operationalizations.

Part II ("Quantitative Research: From Data to Causal Claims," Sessions 6–9) focuses on causal inference. Students learn the potential outcomes framework, causal diagrams, and threats to causal claims (confounding, selection, reverse causality). Sessions progress from observational and quasi-experimental designs (difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity) through a hands-on research design workshop to experiments and the distinctions among internal, external, construct, and statistical validity.

Part III ("Qualitative Research: Making Sense of Social Worlds," Sessions 10–13) shifts to interpretive methodologies. Students explore how different epistemological frameworks construct "data" and "the field" differently (ethnography, interviews, discourse analysis), practice hands-on data collection methods (participant observation, interviews, sensory/walking methods), learn multiple coding and interpretive strategies (thematic analysis, discourse analysis, Grounded Theory), and engage with the challenges of writing, representation, and ethics in qualitative research (thick description, reflexivity, positionality).

Throughout, the pedagogy is highly interactive: students analyze published papers, critique causal claims, conduct field exercises on campus, code their own collected material, and produce analytical texts for peer review—building practical skills alongside theoretical understanding.
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-10-14 at 10:15
Room: C 1.312 Seminarraum
Introduction: Methods and Techniques of Political Science
Lukas Hakelberg
This lecture introduces students to the foundations of research design in political science. The lecture establishes why systematic research design matters: human reasoning is prone to predictable biases (confirmation bias, pattern-seeking in randomness, overconfidence), and rigorous design helps counteract these tendencies to produce reliable, valid knowledge about political phenomena.

The lecture begins by distinguishing types of research questions and goals: normative versus positive research, theoretical versus empirical work, and the three core empirical objectives of description, prediction, and explanation. It emphasizes that theory-generation, theory-testing, and theory-application represent different research logics requiring different designs. Students learn that choosing a good research topic and sharpening it into a precise, answerable question is itself a critical and often underappreciated skill.

A substantial portion of the lecture addresses the role of theory, covering how explanatory theories are structured, what makes a theory "good" (truth, parsimony, generality, precision), and tools for developing theory. The lecture then turns to concepts and measurement, explaining how abstract theoretical ideas (like "democracy" or "political trust") must be carefully defined and translated into observable indicators through conceptualization and operationalization. Common pitfalls—conceptual stretching, profusion of competing definitions, and contested concepts—are highlighted as persistent challenges in the discipline.

The conceptual core of the lecture is causality and explanation. Students are introduced to a counterfactual understanding of causation—the idea that a cause is something that "makes a difference" to an outcome—and the resulting "fundamental problem of causal inference": since we can never observe what would have happened under different conditions, causal claims always rest on assumptions, not certainty alone. This framework unifies the remaining material.

Four major research design families are then presented as different strategies for approximating counterfactual comparisons: Experimental designs, where random assignment creates comparable groups, considered the strongest basis for causal inference when feasible and ethical. Large-N observational designs, which use strategies like natural experiments, instrumental variables, and statistical conditioning to approximate experimental logic without manipulation. Small-N comparative designs, including most similar/different systems comparisons and Qualitative Comparative Analysis, which combine cross-case patterns with in-depth case knowledge. Single-case study designs, using process tracing and abductive reasoning to explain particular political events by weighing evidence against competing hypotheses.

The lecture closes by discussing how these approaches can be combined and sequenced—using case studies to generate hypotheses later tested with large samples, or statistical patterns validated through process tracing of mechanisms—illustrating how research programs evolve through the interplay of theory and evidence over time. Throughout, the emphasis is practical and pragmatic: no single method is inherently superior, and the choice of design should match the research question, the current state of theory, and real-world constraints.
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-10-14 at 08:15
Room: C 14.027 Seminarraum