Welfens has published more than 40 books and several series on innovation, growth, labour market policy, the IT economy and system transformation with Springer and has also contributed to series on these topics. He is co-editor of the Springer journal International Economics and Economic Policy.
The economics prize is named after the economics researcher Nikolai Kondratieff (1892–1938) and is awarded for outstanding research in the social sciences.
Prof. Welfens specializes in macro-economic theory and policy at Wuppertal University’s Department of Economics. He holds the Jean Monnet Chair in European Integration and currently also holds the chair named after the political scientist Alfred Grosser at Sciences Po, a top French university for political studies.
Welfens was delighted to receive this prestigious economics award: “Wonderful!”, he said. “The silver medal that my team and I have won is a spur for further top-level research in Wuppertal. I also hope that the prize will provide the impetus for further research partnerships between Germany and Russia.” He added that North Rhine-Westfalia, the federal state in which Wuppertal lies, is a good place for cutting-edge research.
Prof. Welfens is director of the European Institute for International Economic Relations (EIIW), which has conducted numerous research projects on international economic relations, innovation, growth and the IT economy, system transformation and EU integration for high-level clients, including the EU, the European Parliament, the German Government and the Government of North Rhine Westfalia, the Dutch Government and a number of companies. It has also worked for trade unions, the Krupp Foundation, the Haniel Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation. Its latest expert report looks at the “city triangle” of Remscheid, Solingen und Wuppertal and its chances for innovation and growth.
About the prize
In 1926, from his observation of time series of economic indicators, Nikolai Kondratieff (1892–1938) came to the conclusion that economic development in the industrialised nations followed cycles lasting around 50 years. According to his theory, capitalism was not doomed to imminent collapse, but would be able to regenerate itself in the upswing phase of a cycle. Along with his criticism of the collectivization of Soviet agriculture, this view led to Kondratieff initially being imprisoned and subsequently being sentenced to death and executed in 1938 during Stalin’s “cleansing”. The economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883–1950) later coined the term “Kondratieff cycles” for long economic cycles. The diffusion of information and communication technology is regarded as the sixth European Kondratieff cycle.