Felix Strobel, Deutsche Bundesbank

"The IMFS offers an outstanding network"

Felix Strobel formed part of the institute from September 2017 until July 2019 as a postdoctoral researcher, supporting the extension of the Macroeconomic Model Data Base (MMB). His main research interests are in the fields of monetary and fiscal policy with a focus on the role of banking and financial markets for business cycles. In August 2019, he joined Deutsche Bundesbank as an economist in the International and Euro Area Macroeconomic Analysis of the Directorate General Economics. Felix acquired his Ph.D. degree in Economics at Humboldt University Berlin in 2017. His doctoral thesis investigates the effects of sovereign risk on the size of the government spending multiplier. As a doctoral student he participated in the Berlin Doctoral Program of Economics and Management Sciences (BDPEMS). He obtained his Master’s in Economics at Humboldt University Berlin and his Bachelor’s of Philosophy & Economics at the University of Bayreuth.

What are your main tasks at Deutsche Bundesbank?

The team that I am working in analyzes the global economy with a focus on industrialized countries outside the Eurozone. Our main task is to inform policymakers in the Bundesbank on developments in these areas, which are relevant to monetary policy decisions. This entails, for example, monitoring effects of international trade disputes and the state of the global business cycle, as well as developing insights on major issues in specific countries. Additionally, my job leaves plenty of space for taking a step back from current developments and undertaking in-depth structural investigations into international economic issues.

What do you like most about your job?

One of the aspects of my job that I enjoy most is the breadth of interesting topics that I am confronted with. This can range from issues of trade over the global aspects of the low interest rate environment to fiscal policy in Japan. Likewise, the statistical and economic tools that I have worked with in my short time here range from simple dynamic correlation analysis over binary regressions and SVARs to semi-structural and structural dynamic macroeconomic models. Overall, my job allows me to work on policy-relevant issues while further developing my skill set and keeping in touch with macroeconomic research.

What was the main focus of your research at the IMFS?

During my time at the IMFS, my research centered on the drivers of U.S. business cycles during the Great Recession and its aftermath. In still ongoing research with my coauthor Gregor Boehl, we worked on providing estimates of several workhorse DSGE models given the challenges to estimation posed by the effective lower bound on nominal interest rates. In the context of these models, we then investigated, among others, the effect of conventional and unconventional monetary policy measures in the U.S. during and after the crisis.

How is your job at the Bundesbank related to your work at the IMFS?

My time at the IMFS helped me to develop a broader perspective on macroeconomic modelling and a better intuition on how central banks use macroeconomic tools. Additionally I profit from my time at the IMFS, since DSGE models, the methodological focus of my work at the IMFS, are as well being employed in my team at Bundesbank.

What did you enjoy most regarding your time at the IMFS?

During my time at the IMFS, I worked on the Macroeconomic Model Data Base (MMB). This allowed me to gain a good overview over a large set of macroeconomic models as well working on aspects such as replication and model comparison that are otherwise neglected in our field. Furthermore, the IMFS offers an outstanding network that connects its researchers to excellent universities and central banks around the world.