Research Focus

Education as a determinant of social inequality

In modern societies education is a major determinant of social inequality. Education strongly influences individual opportunities in life, personal fulfilment, professional success as well as social, economic, political, and cultural participation. Whether people have access to education also depends on their social background.

Objects of research

• Access to education
• Learning behaviour at school, institutions of higher education, in families, companies, etc.
• Organisation of competence acquisition
• The effects and benefits of education and competence development from childhood to late adulthood

Main projects

The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) is a key project that was established in Bamberg in 2009. Since 2014, the NEPS has been carried out by the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), which relies on a strong national and international network.

These and other joint research projects have established close ties between the Faculty of Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration and the Faculty of Human Sciences and Education.

Further information

Website of the NEPS

Complexity of entrepreneurial decisions

Entrepreneurial decisions have become highly complex given the increasing economic, social, and technical integration of economic and social environments. In Germany, entrepreneurial behaviour is a central pillar of social well-being not only in international corporations but also particularly in medium-sized companies.

Research focus on medium-sized companies

That is why research at the University of Bamberg focuses particularly on medium-sized companies and networks in the business community, which are increasingly economic, supported by technology, and influenced by societal expectations. Bamberg researchers analyse entrepreneurial behaviour, intra- and inter-organisational exchange processes (in and among companies, customers, suppliers, etc.), management decisions, the optimisation of operational processes and structures, as well as collaboration and institutionalisation. The faculty established a joint professorship with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS and collaborates closely with the institute on projects in the field of logistics.

What do modern work-oriented societies look like?

Researchers focus on work-oriented societies, labour markets, and work organisation in the context of increasing transnationalisation and changing socio-demographic structures. More specifically, they look at structural changes on a macro-level (labour markets, migration, occupational structures, etc.), on a meso-level (company and work organisation, personnel development and structures, etc.) as well as on a micro-level (individual employment histories, competence development, and stress levels, etc.), and analyse the connections between these levels.

Professional competence, migration, and ageing

Research specifically focuses on the development of professional competence and the role of migration, relocation, ageing, and health. Empirical research is often internationally comparable. The faculty has several joint professorships with the Federal Employment Agency's Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Nuremberg and collaborates closely with the institute on various projects.

Individuals and companies on the capital market

Research examines the formation of expectations and prices on the financial and capital markets on a micro-economic level (individual actors), a meso-economic level (companies, financial intermediaries, regulatory institutions, etc.), and a macro-economic level.

Research on capital market communication

Research in this area focuses not only on regulatory questions and macro-economic interdependencies, but also on the role of financial intermediaries, price formation processes, the creation of financial products and their use in risk management, the effects of taxes, accounting as a tool for capital market communication, as well as the requirements and the decision behaviour of capital market participants, among other topics. The research projects are internationally comparable and use behavioural and experimental approaches as well as model-theoretic and empirical analyses.

Public action and political decisions

Research focuses on public action in political and social organisations as well as on their (supra-)state regulations and institutional frameworks. The research projects examine how public action and political decisions are shaped as well as what they require and how they affect all levels of society. For example, researchers analyse individual decisions in elections and referenda, the structure and regulation of different societal functional areas in political and social organisations and networks, cooperation and responsibility in political organisations, prerequisites for the functioning and legitimation of political systems in countries of the Global North, and policy-making in the European Union and international institutions.

Research on interactions

In this area of research, adopting a multilevel perspective plays a crucial role. Researchers try to understand the interactions between political action on different levels and its effects on institutions in the context of ongoing Europeanisation and globalisation.

questions are fundamental to central research areas in the fields of the social sciences, economics and business administration. Research in "Mathematical modelling, quantitative methods, statistics, and econometrics" focuses on (further) developing these formal methods, such as the mathematical modelling of dynamic systems, computer simulations, concepts from decision and game theory as well as from stochastics and statistics.

Consulting and collaboration

Researchers in the area of statistics and econometrics, in particular, can provide statistical and methodological support, offer advice and collaborate on empirical research papers. Researches also further develop statistical methods for the completion and merging of incomplete data, for example. Many research projects are supported by the Bamberg Center for Empirical Studies (BACES) of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Economics and Business Administration.