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)

Table of contents for this page

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

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. 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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. New room to maneuver? National tax policy under increasing financial transparency
    Leo Ahrens (Author) , Fabio Bothner (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Thomas Rixen (Author) , 01.04.2022 , in: Socio-Economic Review, 20, 2 , p. 561-583 , 23 p.

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

  5. Response to Reuven Avi-Yonah, Steven Dean and Cees Peters
    Leo Ahrens (Author) , Lukas Hakelberg (Author) , Thomas Rixen (Author) , 01.06.2021 , in: Intertax, 49, 6-7 , p. 564-568 , 5 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

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Prizes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Courses

How to Finance the State: Taxes, Debt & Power Across the World
Lukas Hakelberg
⌄
The state's most fundamental task is the centralization of resources to finance its opera-tions and policies. Without revenue the state ceases to exist. To finance itself, the state can raise debt, create money, impose taxes, sell natural resources, or conquer other states for tribute. All of these options involve political conflict. How much debt should the state incur with whom and under which conditions? Who pays how much taxes? And who has the right to create money? How conflicts over these questions are resolved reflects the distribution of power within societies but often also between countries, for instance when we think of international lending.

This seminar provides students with an introduction into the Political Economy literature on state financing that analyzes the dynamics described above. We study the emergence of sovereign debt and taxation in historical perspective and across world regions. We identify important institutional, political, and economic drivers of the expansion of state budgets and discuss contemporary challenges to and innovations in state financing. These include central banks' asset purchasing programs, the increasing use of off-balance sheet fiscal agencies to circumvent budgetary rules and parliamentary oversight, and the fiscal responses to the financial and climate crises.
Next appointment:
Tuesday, 2026-05-05 at 10:15
Room: C 40.256 Hybridraum