Prof. Hans-Joachim Voth

UBS Foundation Professor of Macroeconomics and Financial Markets

Discover Prof. Hans-Joachim Voth on

Joachim Voth received his PhD from Oxford in 1996. He works on financial crises, long-run growth, as well as on the origins of political extremism. He has examined public debt dynamics and bank lending to the first serial defaulter in history, analysed risk-taking behaviour by lenders as a result of personal shocks, and the investor performance during speculative bubbles. Joachim has also examined the deep historical roots of anti-Semitism, showing that the same cities where pogroms occurred in the Middle Age also persecuted Jews more in the 1930s; he has analyzed the extent to which schooling can create radical racial stereotypes over the long run, and how dense social networks (“social capital”) facilitated the spread of the Nazi party. In his work on long-run growth, he has investigated the effects of fertility restriction, the role of warfare, and the importance of state capacity. Joachim has published more than 80 academic articles and 3 academic books, 5 trade books and more than 50 newspaper columns, op-eds and book reviews. His research has been highlighted in The Economist, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, El Pais, Vanguardia, La Repubblica, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, NZZ, der Standard, der Spiegel, CNN, RTN, Swiss and German TV and radio.

Interests

Macroeconomics, Political Economy, Financial Markets, Economic History

UBS Foundation Professor of Macroeconomics and Financial Markets

Prof. Hans-Joachim Voth

Discover Prof. Hans-Joachim Voth on

Joachim Voth received his PhD from Oxford in 1996. He works on financial crises, long-run growth, as well as on the origins of political extremism. He has examined public debt dynamics and bank lending to the first serial defaulter in history, analysed risk-taking behaviour by lenders as a result of personal shocks, and the investor performance during speculative bubbles. Joachim has also examined the deep historical roots of anti-Semitism, showing that the same cities where pogroms occurred in the Middle Age also persecuted Jews more in the 1930s; he has analyzed the extent to which schooling can create radical racial stereotypes over the long run, and how dense social networks (“social capital”) facilitated the spread of the Nazi party. In his work on long-run growth, he has investigated the effects of fertility restriction, the role of warfare, and the importance of state capacity. Joachim has published more than 80 academic articles and 3 academic books, 5 trade books and more than 50 newspaper columns, op-eds and book reviews. His research has been highlighted in The Economist, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, El Pais, Vanguardia, La Repubblica, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, NZZ, der Standard, der Spiegel, CNN, RTN, Swiss and German TV and radio.

Interests

Macroeconomics, Political Economy, Financial Markets, Economic History

Selected publications

  • Slavery and the British Industrial Revolution with Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding, NBER working paper 30451, download

  • Killer Incentives: Status Competition and Pilot Performance during World War II with Philipp Ager, Leonardo Bursztyn, NBER working paper 22992, download

  • The long-run effects of religious persecution: Evidence from the Spanish Inquisition with Mauricio Drelichman and Jordi Vidal-Robert PNAS 2021 Vol. 118 No. 33 e2022881118 download

  • Rage against the machines with Bruno Caprettini UBS Center Policy Brief 2018 download

  • Leverage and Beliefs: Personal Experience and Risk Taking in Margin Lending with Peter Koudijs forthcoming, American Economic Review download

  • Bowling for Fascism: Social Capital and the Rise of the Nazi Party in Weimar Germany, 1919-33 with Shanker Satyanath, Nico Voigtländer, forthcoming, Journal of Political Economy download

  • State Capacity and Military Conflict with Nicola Gennaioli Review of Economic Studies, 82, 2015 download

Research

Hans-Joachim Voth’s research analyzes the determinants of Europe’s rise to riches, the causes of booms and busts in financial markets, and the social and economic origins of political extremism. In a set of three recent papers, Voth argues that three things made Europe much richer much earlier than any other continent – more (and more costly) wars, lower land productivity, and uniquely unhealthy cities. Combining theory with empirical evidence, he shows how each factor raised per capita output and fed into self-sustaining gains in productivity. Along the way, Europe did not only grow rich but built the first highly capable states in history. In other recent work, Voth examined how the experience of almost losing money modifies risk-taking in financial markets, looking at asset-backed lending in 18th century Amsterdam. Prior work had only looked at the effect of actual adverse shocks, which also affect asset values, earnings, and human capital accumulation. By showing that getting close to a loss alone can modify risk-taking, this work can help to explain why risk-taking is typically procylical – larger in booms, and sharply curtailed in busts. This research extends his earlier empirical work that showed that “riding bubbles” can be optimal for investors, and that lending to serial defaulters can be highly profitable.

Voth has also analyzed the effect of social capital on the willingness to join the canonical example of a radical party – the Nazi party. From the days of Tocqueville and in recent work by Putnam, social capital – a dense network of clubs and associations – are seen as a key factor that makes democracy work, by teaching individuals to interact as equals. Voth’s work shows that there is a dark side to social capital – greater social proximity can also facilitate the spread of extremist beliefs, in the same way as close physical proximity facilitates the spread of viruses. Using newly collected data on the number and types of clubs and associations in interwar Germany, Voth shows that Nazi party entry surged where density was high – including for the case of seemingly “innocent” associations like hiking and chess clubs. This research builds on earlier work showing the importance of deep historical roots for the rise of anti-Semitism in interwar Germany, and the effects of Nazi schooling.

Hans-Joachim Voth’s research analyzes the determinants of Europe’s rise to riches, the causes of booms and busts in financial markets, and the social and economic origins of political extremism. In a set of three recent papers, Voth argues that three things made Europe much richer much earlier than any other continent – more (and more costly) wars, lower land productivity, and uniquely unhealthy cities. Combining theory with empirical evidence, he shows how each factor raised per capita output and fed into self-sustaining gains in productivity. Along the way, Europe did not only grow rich but built the first highly capable states in history. In other recent work, Voth examined how the experience of almost losing money modifies risk-taking in financial markets, looking at asset-backed lending in 18th century Amsterdam. Prior work had only looked at the effect of actual adverse shocks, which also affect asset values, earnings, and human capital accumulation. By showing that getting close to a loss alone can modify risk-taking, this work can help to explain why risk-taking is typically procylical – larger in booms, and sharply curtailed in busts. This research extends his earlier empirical work that showed that “riding bubbles” can be optimal for investors, and that lending to serial defaulters can be highly profitable.

Voth has also analyzed the effect of social capital on the willingness to join the canonical example of a radical party – the Nazi party. From the days of Tocqueville and in recent work by Putnam, social capital – a dense network of clubs and associations – are seen as a key factor that makes democracy work, by teaching individuals to interact as equals. Voth’s work shows that there is a dark side to social capital – greater social proximity can also facilitate the spread of extremist beliefs, in the same way as close physical proximity facilitates the spread of viruses. Using newly collected data on the number and types of clubs and associations in interwar Germany, Voth shows that Nazi party entry surged where density was high – including for the case of seemingly “innocent” associations like hiking and chess clubs. This research builds on earlier work showing the importance of deep historical roots for the rise of anti-Semitism in interwar Germany, and the effects of Nazi schooling.

Joachim Voth on Google Scholarbrowse

Videos

In the media

  • Slavery and the industrial revolution VoxEU VoxTalks Economics from 3.2.2023 listen

  • A flurry of new studies identifies causes of the Industrial Revolution The Economist Article from 17.1.2023 read

  • Der Sieg der Dreschmaschine FAZ Blog vom 31.12.2022 lesen

  • Glücksspiel statt Währung Finanz und Wirtschaft Meinungsartikel vom 20.12.2022 lesen

  • Religiöse Verfolgung und wirtschaftliche Schäden SRF 4x4 Podcast mit Joachim Voth vom 23.9.2021 hören

  • Vaccine hesitancy linked to ICU capacity VoxEU vom 1.6.2021 read

  • Zweifel an Wirtschaftsaufschwung nach Corona-Ende SRF Echo der Zeit mit Joachim Voth vom 4.2.2021 hören

  • Steigbügelhalter des Wohlstands UZH Magazin 2/2020 lesen

  • Schweiz, du hast es besser! UZH Magazin 2/2020 lesen

  • Pandemie und Wettstreit der Systeme Finanz und Wirtschaft Kommentar von Joachim Voth vom 8.6.2020 lesen

  • Die Ökonomie des Todes Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 10.4.2020 lesen

  • Pandemien und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Wirtschaft ARD Interview mit Joachim Voth vom 3.4.2020 schauen

  • Location tracking instead of house arrest: the world after Corona Vontobel Interview with Joachim Voth 2.4.2020 read

  • Ein Herz für die Globalisierung Weltwoche Artikel vom 1.4.2020 lesen

  • Wir könnten eine virtuelle Pestmauer bauen Spiegel Interview vom 31.3.2020 lesen

  • «Man kann nicht die Wirtschaft töten, um 10 Prozent dauerhaft vor einem Gesundheitsrisiko zu schützen» Handelszeitung Interview vom 28.3.2020 lesen

  • «Ist es ökonomisch sinnvoll, Junge einzusperren, um Ältere zu schützen? Diese Frage wird kommen» Cash Interview vom 27.3.2020 lesen

  • Trade and travel in the time of epidemics VoxEU.org 6.3.2020 read

  • Reisen und Handeln in Zeiten der Epidemie Finanz und Wirtschaft Meinungsartikel vom 2.3.2020 lesen

  • Wurzeln des Populismus Finanz und Wirtschaft Meinungsartikel vom 10.10.2019 lesen

  • Höhere Mieten für alle! FAZ Meinungsartikel vom 15.06.2019 lesen

  • Sozialer Aufstieg dauert Generationen Finanz und Wirtschaft vom 27.05.2019 lesen

  • How failing banks paved Hitler's path to power VoxEU from March 15, 2019 read

  • Der Feind, die Maschine Finanz und Wirtschaft Never Mind the Markets Blog vom 12.11.2018 lesen

Quotes

Der seuchentechnisch wohl glücklichste Moment der Geschichte war 1976, als die Pocken besiegt waren und noch niemand etwas vom HI-Virus wusste.
UZH Magazin, 2/2020
Optimisten, die die Welt immer rosig sehen, haben im Leben viele Vorteile; wenn es um Pandemien geht, gilt das aber nicht.
UZH Magazin, 2/2020
Nichts kann die Legitimität einer vom Volk gewählten Regierung ersetzen, wenn es darum geht, Opfer und Einsatz von ­allen zu verlangen.
Finanz und Wirtschaft, 8.6.2020
Financial history may hold many lessons, but the inevitability of crises is not one of them. Although it is relatively easy to stop them, doing so comes at a cost, and this cost may be quite high. In other words, the right number of financial crises is probably not zero.
The most fundamental innovation in finance in the past 100 years was the ATM.
Man kann nicht die Wirtschaft töten, um 10 Prozent dauerhaft vor einem Gesundheitsrisiko zu schützen.
Handelszeitung, 28.3.2020
Man muss klar sehen, dass der grösste Vorteil der Globalisierung aus dem freien Warenaustausch stammt, und die Infektionen kommen ja nicht von da her.
Weltwoche, 1.4.2020

Interviews and features

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