School of Public Affairs

Organisational unit: Research School

Organisation profile

Leuphana School of Public Affairs is the academic and professional home to 1.000 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students and 31 professors. 30 research associates and 17 professional staff members are working for us.

The main themes of the school are reflected in its study programs: The School of Public Affairs is currently responsible for three Majors and four Minors at Leuphana College, five Master’s programmes and five Doctoral research groups at Leuphana Graduate School as well as five continuing education Master's programmes at Leuphana Professional School. As a novelty in Germany, the Master of Law offers students the opportunity to obtain both a Master's degree in law (LL.M.) as well as the state law examination. With its emphasis on "Law in Context", this model degree programme transcends a classic-dogmatic perspective of jurisprudence by presenting the relevant contents from civil law, public law and criminal law against the backdrop of current societal challenges and transformations. 

Main research areas

Leuphana School of Public Affairs brings together the disciplines of Political Science, Law, and Economics under one roof. With 31 professorships, it establishes an innovative profile in Germany on issues of public affairs, gaining both national and international visibility and academic reputation.

The School conducts research on the major transformations of our time and thus continues to develop its existing research agenda on the future of democracy, evidence-based political decision-making and law in the context of societal transformation. In an interdisciplinary collaborative endeavour, the three subjects will, among other things, answer pressing questions about

  • the legitimacy and performance of democracies, whose integrative power is under threat, especially in light of recent upheavals in politics and society,
  • the role of the state with regard to the relationship between private-law and public-law regulation,
  • the justification of governmental intervention into market processes and their ex-post evaluation.
  1. Published

    The Structure and Behavioural Effects of Revealed Social Identity Preferences

    Hett, F., Mechtel, M. & Kröll, M., 23.11.2020, In: The Economic Journal. 130, 632, p. 2569-2595 27 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The Struggle for EU Legitimacy: Public Contestation, 1950-2005, by Claudia Schrag Sternberg

    Osterberg-Kaufmann, N., 08.2015, In: Political Studies Review Journal. 13, 3, p. 453-454 2 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  3. Published

    The Sweet Temptation of Corruption: Understanding Corrupt Actions by Experiments in the US and Germany

    Kubbe, I., 31.03.2015, Irvine: Center for the Study of Democracy, University of California, 46 p. (CSD Working Papers).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  4. Published

    The Top 100 Companies Panel Database: Five Decades of Aggregate Concentration Surveys in Germany

    Buchwald, A., Hotten, R., Rothbauer, J. & Weche, J. P., 01.11.2021, In: Jahrbucher für Nationalokonomie und Statistik. 241, 5-6, p. 787-800 14 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    The transferability and performance of payment-by-results biodiversity conservation procurement auctions: empirical evidence from northernmost Germany

    Groth, M., 2009, Lüneburg: Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Lüneburg, 29 p. (Working paper series in economics; no. 119).

    Research output: Working paperWorking papers

  6. E-pub ahead of print

    The (Un)intended Consequences of Legal Transplants: A Comparative Study of Standing in Collective Litigation in Five Jurisdictions

    Halfmeier, A., Kalajdzic, J., Tzankova, I., Murphy, B. & Gómez, M. A., 11.02.2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of Tort Law.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    The United Kingdom in Space: A New Era: Outlook on Latest Regulatory Developments and the UK Space Community

    Smith, L. J., Thompson, A. & Beach, N., 01.11.2021, In: Air and Space Law. 46, 6, p. 713-738 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    The urban wage premium in imperfect labor markets

    Hirsch, B., Jahn, E. J., Manning, A. & Oberfichtner, M., 01.04.2022, In: Journal of Human Resources. 57, SpecialIssue 1, p. S111-S136 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The u-shape on aging revisited: An international comparison with aggregated data

    Humpert, S., 25.03.2011, Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen: Finanz-, Wirtschafts- und andere Krisen: Forschungsbeiträge. Schöning, S., Richter, J. & Pape, A. (eds.). 1 ed. Frankfurt, Main: Peter Lang Verlag, p. 227-244 17 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  10. Published

    The value of sub-national data: The dynamics of contentious politics in Nepal

    González, B. & Vüllers, J., 01.09.2020, In: International Area Studies Review. 23, 3, p. 307-322 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review