Research

War experience index map showing regional variation across Germany

Political Economy, Crises, and Markets

Historical stock exchange representing financial markets and firm financing

Firm Financing and Financial Behaviour

Patent documents representing innovation and institutional change

Innovation and Institutional Change

Historical data records representing data, methods, and AI in economic history

Data and Methods in Economic History

→ Complete List of Publications (PDF)

Political Economy, Crises, and Markets

My research in political economy examines how political institutions and major economic and political disruptions shape economic behaviour, political preferences, and international economic integration. My current work focuses in particular on the consequences of war, crises, and postwar politics.

Projects in Progress

Allocating Reconstruction Finance: Evidence from the Marshall Plan in Postwar Germany, with Gerda Asmus-Bluhm

Selected Papers

  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Wahl, F. Bombs and Ballots: Wartime Experience and Political Preferences in the 1955 Saar Referendum. Revise and resubmit, second round, Economic Journal.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Opitz, A. (2019). The Value of Active Politicians on Supervisory Boards: Evidence from the Berlin Stock Exchange and the Parliament in Interwar Germany. Scandinavian Economic History Review, 67(1), 71–89.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., Hauber, P., and Opitz, A. (2014). The political stock market in the German Kaiserreich: do markets punish the extension of the suffrage to the benefit of the working class? Evidence from Saxony. Journal of Economic History, 74(4), 1140–1167.
  • Lehmann, S., and O’Rourke, K. H. (2011). The Structure of Protection and Growth in the Late 19th Century. Review of Economics and Statistics, 93(2), 606–616.
  • Lehmann, S., and Volckart, O. (2011). The Political Economy of Agricultural Protection in 19th Century Sweden. European Review of Economic History, 15(1), 29–59.
  • Lehmann, S. (2010). Chaotic Shop-Talk or Efficient Parliament? The Reichstag, the Parties, and the Problem of Governmental Instability in the Weimar Republic. Public Choice, 144(1), 83–104.
  • Lehmann, S. (2010). The German elections in the 1870s: who caused the turn towards protectionism? Journal of Economic History, 70(1), 146–178.

Firm Financing, and Financial Behaviour

My research on finance examines financial markets, firm financing, and individual and household financial behaviour. A recurring focus is how market structure, geography, and financial institutions shape firms’ access to finance and regional economic development, and how individuals and households adjust their financial decisions in response to major economic and institutional change. I am particularly interested in the role of local financial markets as financial systems become increasingly integrated.

Projects in Progress

Decisions in Times of Economic and Political Crises: A Microeconomic Analysis of German Savings Accounts, 1929–1945, with Jochen Streb

Allocating Reconstruction Finance: Evidence from the Marshall Plan in Postwar Germany, with Gerda Asmus-Bluhm

Portfolio Choice in Times of War: Evidence from Germany, 1932–1945, with Elissa Iorgulescu

Selected Papers

  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., Dwenger, N., and Ehrhardt, O. IPOs in the Long Run: Institutional Change, Stock Market Consolidation and Firm Financing in Germany, 1897–2016. Revise and resubmit, Review of Finance.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., Neumayer, A., and Streb, J. (2023). Heterogeneous inflation and deflation experiences and savings decisions during German industrialization. Journal of Banking & Finance, 154, 106978.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Neumayer, A. (2022). The limits of control: corporate ownership and control of German joint-stock firms, 1869–1945. Financial History Review, 29(2), 152–197.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2021). Finanzierung von Innovationen durch die deutschen Börsen von 1896 bis 1932. Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen, 74, 36–41.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Wahl, F. (2020). The German bank–growth nexus revisited: savings banks and economic growth in Prussia. Economic History Review, 74(1), 204–222.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Neumayer, A. (2019). Does the preference for investment in local firms rise in turbulent times? Evidence from the portfolio of Joseph Frisch, private banker (1923–55). Journal of Business History/Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte, 64(1), 1–18.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2016). The Berlin Stock Exchange in Imperial Germany – a Market for New Technology? American Economic Review, 106(11), 3558–3576.
  • Burhop, C., and Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S. (2016). The Berlin stock exchange and the geography of German stock markets in 1913. European Review of Economic History, 20(4), 429–451.
  • Lehmann, S. (2014). Taking Firms to the Stock Market: IPOs and the Importance of Large Banks in Imperial Germany, 1896–1913. Economic History Review, 67(1), 92–122.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Burhop, C. (2014). Die Geographie der deutschen Börsen im Wandel (1913–1937). Bankhistorisches Archiv, 40(1–2), 23–37.
  • Lehmann, S. (2011). Die Bedeutung der Emissionsbanken auf dem deutschen Aktienmarkt 1896–1913. Vierteljahresschrift für Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, 98(3), 331–340.

Innovation and Institutional Change

My research on innovation examines how legal, organisational, and financial institutions shape innovative activity and firm development. A recurring focus is how patent institutions, corporate form, and access to finance affect firms’ incentives and ability to develop and commercialise new technologies.

Projects in Progress

Firm Foundations, Institutions, and Economic Dynamics in Germany, with Felix Selgert and Jochen Streb

Selected Papers

  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Morell, A. (2025). Forum Shopping and Forum Selling in German Patent Litigation: A Quantitative Analysis. SAFE Working Paper No. 443. Revise and resubmit, Research Policy.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2026). The Role of Corporate Form in the Life Cycle of Innovative Firms in Germany, 1877–1932. Conditionally accepted, Scandinavian Economic History Review. Special Issue “Patent history and economic growth: Institutional frameworks, practices, and global perspectives”.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S. H., Prettner, K., and Tscheuschner, P. (2023). The scientific revolution and its role in the transition to sustained economic growth. World Development, 168, 106262.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2021). Finanzierung von Innovationen durch die deutschen Börsen von 1896 bis 1932. Zeitschrift für das gesamte Kreditwesen, 74, 36–41.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2020). Discrimination against Foreigners: The Wuerttemberg Patent Law in Administrative Practice. The Journal of Economic History, 80(4), 1071–1100.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Streb, J. (2016). The Berlin Stock Exchange in Imperial Germany – a Market for New Technology? American Economic Review, 106(11), 3558–3576.

Data and Methods in Economic History

This strand of my work focuses on new data sources and methods for quantitative economic history. I am particularly interested in the construction of historical datasets and in how digital and AI-based methods can make complex historical sources accessible for empirical research.

Projects in Progress

Firm Foundations, Institutions, and Economic Dynamics in Germany, with Felix Selgert

Selected Publications

  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Selgert, F. (Eds.). (2027). Machine Learning and AI in Economic History. Jahrbuch für Wirtschaftsgeschichte, forthcoming.
  • Shigapov, R., Schmidt, T., Kamlah, J., Schumm, I., Streb, J., and Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S. (2024). MBI-KG: A knowledge graph of structured and linked economic research data extracted from the 1937 book “Die Maschinen-Industrie im Deutschen Reich”. Data in Brief, 111238.
  • Lehmann-Hasemeyer, S., and Opitz, A. (2024). Data Sources on the 19th and Early 20th Century German Capital Market: Challenges and Opportunities. German Economic Review.