Dr Axel Lindner

Dr Axel Lindner
Current Position

since 1/10

Deputy Head of the Department of Macroeconomics

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

since 1/13

Head of the Research Group Macroeconomic Analyses and Forecasts

Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association

Research Interests

  • monetary economics
  • European macroeconomics

Axel Lindner joined in 2001 and became Deputy Head of the Department of Macroeconomics in 2010. His research focuses on the European business cycle and on information economics applied to macroeconomic forecasting. As ombudsperson, Axel Lindner is responsible for ensuring good scientific practice at the institute.

Axel Lindner earned a diploma and doctoral degree from LMU Munich. He was visiting professor at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and visiting scholar at Queen's University in Kingston, Canada. Prior to joining IWH, he was teaching at Goethe University Frankfurt.

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Dr Axel Lindner
Dr Axel Lindner
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Publications

Recent Publications

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IWH-Flash-Indikator I. und II. Quartal 2024

Katja Heinisch Oliver Holtemöller Axel Lindner Birgit Schultz

in: IWH Flash Indicator, No. 1, 2024

Abstract

Im Jahr 2023 ging das deutsche Bruttoinlandsprodukt um 0,3% gegenüber dem Vorjahr zurück. Während im zweiten und dritten Quartal eine Stagnation der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Produktion zu beobachten war, sank die Wirtschaftsleistung in Deutschland im vierten Quartal 2023 um 0,3%. Insbesondere dürften die gestiegenen Verbraucherpreise dazu beigetragen haben, dass die preisbereinigten Konsumausgaben der privaten Haushalte deutlich zurückgingen. Zusätzlich belastete politische und wirtschaftliche Unsicherheit den Konsum. Der Anstieg der Zinsen wirkte im vergangenen Jahr ebenfalls dämpfend auf die Konjunktur. Die Verunsicherung wird auch in der ersten Jahreshälfte andauern, so dass das Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) laut IWH-Flash-Indikator im ersten Quartal 2024 stagnieren und im zweiten Quartal 2024 lediglich um knapp 0,2% steigen dürfte (vgl. Abbildung 1).

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Grüne Transformation und Schuldenbremse: Implikationen zusätzlicher Investitionen für öffentliche Finanzen und privaten Konsum

Andrej Drygalla Katja Heinisch Oliver Holtemöller Axel Lindner Alessandro Sardone Christoph Schult Birgit Schultz Götz Zeddies

in: Konjunktur aktuell, No. 4, 2023

Abstract

Das deutsche Klimaschutzgesetz sieht unter anderem vor, dass die Treibhausgas-Emissionen in Deutschland bis zum Jahr 2030 um 65% gegenüber dem Jahr 1990 verringert werden. Die damit einhergehende Transformation der Wirtschaft hat weitreichende Konsequenzen für die gesamtwirtschaftliche Entwicklung und die öffentlichen Finanzen. Alles in allem erfordert der Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien für die Klimaschutzziele jährliche Investitionen in der Größenordnung von 2,5% in Relation zum Bruttoinlandsprodukt. Mithilfe eines makroökonomischen Modells kann gezeigt werden, mit welchen gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen zu rechnen ist, wenn die Klimaschutzziele eingehalten werden.

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IWH-Flash-Indikator IV. Quartal 2023 und I. Quartal 2024

Katja Heinisch Oliver Holtemöller Axel Lindner Birgit Schultz

in: IWH Flash Indicator, No. 4, 2023

Abstract

Im dritten Quartal 2023 sank die Wirtschaftsleistung in Deutschland leicht um 0,1%, das schwache Plus aus dem Vorquartal wurde damit wieder abgeschmolzen. Insbesondere nahmen die Konsumausgaben der privaten Haushalte weiter ab. Das dürfte nicht zuletzt der immer noch recht kräftigen Inflation bei nur moderat steigenden Haushaltsbudgets geschuldet sein. Auch ist die Verunsicherung der privaten Haushalte nach wie vor groß, etwa bezüglich der Finanzierbarkeit der künftig notwendigen Klimaschutzmaßnahmen oder bezüglich der mittelfristigen Wirtschaftsaussichten in Deutschland. Zudem haben sich die geopolitischen Risiken mit dem Ausbruch kriegerischer Handlungen im Nahen Osten noch einmal erhöht. Auch wenn für das vierte Quartal 2023 aufgrund wieder etwas steigender Realeinkommen ein kleiner Zuwachs der Produktion in Deutschland zu erwarten ist, lässt der Aufschwung auf sich warten. Das Bruttoinlandsprodukt (BIP) dürfte laut IWH-Flash-Indikator im vierten Quartal 2023 sowie im ersten Quartal 2024 jeweils um 0,2% steigen (vgl. Abbildung 1).

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Refereed Publications

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For How Long Do IMF Forecasts of World Economic Growth Stay Up-to-date?

Katja Heinisch Axel Lindner

in: Applied Economics Letters, No. 3, 2019

Abstract

This study analyses the performance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook output forecasts for the world and for both the advanced economies and the emerging and developing economies. With a focus on the forecast for the current year and the next year, we examine the durability of IMF forecasts, looking at how much time has to pass so that IMF forecasts can be improved by using leading indicators with monthly updates. Using a real-time data set for GDP and for indicators, we find that some simple single-indicator forecasts on the basis of data that are available at higher frequency can significantly outperform the IMF forecasts as soon as the publication of the IMF’s Outlook is only a few months old. In particular, there is an obvious gain using leading indicators from January to March for the forecast of the current year.

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On the Risk of a Sovereign Debt Crisis in Italy

Oliver Holtemöller Tobias Knedlik Axel Lindner

in: Intereconomics, No. 6, 2018

Abstract

The intention for the Italian government to stimulate business activity via large increases in government spending is not in line with the stabilisation of the public debt ratio. Instead, if such policy were implemented, the risk of a sovereign debt crisis would be high. In this article, we analyse the capacity of the Italian economy to shoulder sovereign debt under different scenarios. We conclude that focusing on growth enhancing structural reforms, would allow for moderate increases in public expenditure.

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On the Distribution of Refugees in the EU

Oliver Holtemöller Axel Lindner Andreas Schmalzbauer Götz Zeddies

in: Intereconomics, No. 4, 2016

Abstract

The current situation regarding the migration of refugees can only be handled efficiently through closer international cooperation in the field of asylum policy. From an economic point of view, it would be reasonable to distribute incoming refugees among all EU countries according to a distribution key that reflects differences in the costs of integration in the individual countries. An efficient distribution would even out the marginal costs of integrating refugees. In order to reach a political agreement, the key for distributing refugees should be complemented by compensation payments that distribute the costs of integration among countries. The key for distributing refugees presented by the EU Commission takes account of appropriate factors in principle, but it is unclear in terms of detail. The compensation payments for countries that should take relatively high numbers of refugees for cost efficiency reasons should be financed by reallocating resources within the EU budget.

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Working Papers

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Economic Sentiment: Disentangling Private Information from Public Knowledge

Katja Heinisch Axel Lindner

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 15, 2021

Abstract

This paper addresses a general problem with the use of surveys as source of information about the state of an economy: Answers to surveys are highly dependent on information that is publicly available, while only additional information that is not already publicly known has the potential to improve a professional forecast. We propose a simple procedure to disentangle the private information of agents from knowledge that is already publicly known for surveys that ask for general as well as for private prospects. Our results reveal the potential of our proposed technique for the usage of European Commissions‘ consumer surveys for economic forecasting for Germany.

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Outperforming IMF Forecasts by the Use of Leading Indicators

Katja Drechsel Sebastian Giesen Axel Lindner

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 4, 2014

Abstract

This study analyzes the performance of the IMF World Economic Outlook forecasts for world output and the aggregates of both the advanced economies and the emerging and developing economies. With a focus on the forecast for the current and the next year, we examine whether IMF forecasts can be improved by using leading indicators with monthly updates. Using a real-time dataset for GDP and for the indicators we find that some simple single-indicator forecasts on the basis of data that are available at higher frequency can significantly outperform the IMF forecasts if the publication of the Outlook is only a few months old.

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Evaluating communication strategies for public agencies: transparency, opacity, and secrecy

Axel Lindner

in: IWH Discussion Papers, No. 8, 2008

Abstract

This paper analyses in a simple global games framework welfare effects stemming from different communication strategies of public agencies if strategies of agents are complementary to each other: communication can either be fully transparent, or the agency opaquely publishes only its overall assessment of the economy, or it keeps information completely secret. It is shown that private agents put more weight to their private information in the transparent case than in case of opacity. Thus, in many cases, the appropriate measure against overreliance on public information is giving more details to the public instead of denying access to public information.

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