Education

• Ph.D. Agricultural and Resource Economic “summa cum laude”, University Bonn
• M.Sc. Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management „distinction borderline“, Imperial College London (Wye), UK
• M.Sc. Political Science and Economics, Universities Tübingen and Hamburg

Professional experience

• since 2025 Associate Dean, Internationalisation, TUM School of Management
• 2016-2018 Vice Dean, TUM School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan
• since 2023 Academic Program Director, School of Management
• since 2021 Head of Department Economics and Policy, TU Munich
• 2014-2017 Head of Department Agricultural Economics, TU Munich
• since 2013 Full Professor, Chair of Production and Resource Economics, TU Munich
• 2011-2013 Professor and Director, Dairy and Food Industry Economics, CAU Kiel
• 2009-2011 Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics and Research Theme Leader, Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of Manchester, UK
• 2007-2009 Lecturer, Department of Economics, Deputy Director Center for Agri-Environmental Studies, University of Kent, UK and Center for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, UK
• 2005-2007 Associate Professor, Institute for Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen, DK
• 2004-2005 Senior Researcher, Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn
• 2000-2004 Senior Consultant, PricewaterhouseCoopers International, Düsseldorf and Hamburg

Honorary and Visiting Positions

• since 2021 Honorary Professorship, Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia
• 06-09/2016 University of Bergen, Norway (OECD Research Programme)
• 07-08/2014 OECD, Paris (Staff Loan), France
• 07-09/2012 United States Department for Agriculture (USDA), Washington DC, US
• 01-02/2011 University of Natural Res and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna, Austria
• 01-05/2010 Dep for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), London, UK
• 07-09/2009 Princeton University, US
• 04-09/2008 UC Berkeley and UC Davis, California, US

Research areas

• Production, cost, efficiency and resilience
• Technology adoption, climate change adaptation and sustainable innovation
• Agricultural, development and environmental policy evaluation
• Bioeconomy and biotechnology modelling
• Circular economy and waste management
• Microeconometric/Statistical modelling and risk analysis

Teaching activities

(core courses)

• Production Economics and Accounting
• Cost and Investment Theory
• Economics for Life Science Engineering
• Economics for Forest and Resource Management
• Economics of Agriculture and Technology
• Economic and Environmental Life Cycle Assessment Analysis

Research projects

(selected projects)

• 2025-2029 URSOIL: Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Urban Soil Restoration through Living Labs (EU)
• 2025-2029 WATERGRID: Nature Based Smart Water Grids for Integrated Water & Drougth Management (EU)
• 2025-2029 SCALARE: Scaling Agroforestry by Living Labs for Resilient Mediterranean Agro-Ecosystems (ERA NET)
• 2024-2028 AGROWELL: Agricultural Robotics and Augmented Reality in Agriculture (EU)
• 2023-2027 NOVASOIL: Innovative Business Models for Soil Conservation (EU)
• 2023-2026 RETOUCHNexus: Sustainable Water Resource Management & the NEXUS (EU)
• 2022-2025 INCITISFood: Integrated and Circular Technologies for Sustainable Food Systems in Africa (EU)
• 2020-2024 POPILLA IPM: Integrated Pest Management of an invasive Japanese Beetle (EU)
• 2020-2024 PONDERFUL: Pond Ecosystems for Resilient Landscapes in Changing Climate (EU)
• 2019-2024 EFFECT: Contract-Based Agri-Environmental Policy (EU)
• 2019-2022 SIGMA NEXUS: Water Management in the Mediterranian (EU)
• 2019-2022 DEEPWATER: Integrated Groundwater Management (EU)
• 2009-2014 GENESIS: Groundwater and Dependent Ecosystems: New Scientific and Technological Basis for Assessing Climate Change and Land-use Impacts on Groundwater (EU)
• 2018-2022 BIOMONITOR: Monitoring the Bioeconomy (EU)
• 2016-2020 FITHYDRO: Fishfriendly Innovative Technologies for Hydropower (EU)
• 2024-2027 INSPIRE: Integrating High-Resolution Sensors and AI Decision Tools for Enhancing Agricultural Efficiency (German BMEL)

Activities and awards

• since 6/2023 Editor-In-Chief, Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
• 2023 Nominated Best Paper, Environmental and Resource Economics, 2023
• since 7/2023 Associate Editor, Journal of Agricultural Economics
• 2023 Invited Expert Member, FAO Taskforce on Ecosystem Services
• 2023 Invited Expert Reviewer, Republic of Slovakia, Periodic Science Review
• 2022 Top Cited Paper, Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2021-2022
• since 2022 Associate Editor, Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Sciences
• 2015-2022 Editorial Board Member, European Review of Agricultural Economics
• since 2020 Scientific Advisory Board Member, Econ Agro-Alimentare/Food Economy
• since 2010 Associate Editor, Journal of Productivity Analysis
• 2013 Appointed Liaison Professor, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, Berlin/Bonn
• Expert Advisor for OECD, ADB, Worldbank, FAO, EC-JRC

Key publications

• Ober, C., C. Canessa, F. Frick and J. Sauer (2025). The Role of Behavioural Factors in Accepting Agri-environmental Contracts. Ecological Economics 231.
• Frick, F., H. Vrolijk and J. Sauer (2024). Innovation Behavior and Sustainability Performance: Empirical Evidence on the Farming Sector. Q-Open 4 (2).
• Mennig, P. and J. Sauer (2024). Revisiting the Impact of Decoupled Subsidies on Farm Performance: a Counterfactual Analysis using Microdata. Applied Economics (56) 49.
• Stetter, C. and J. Sauer (2024). Tackling Climate Change: Agroforestry Adoption in the Face of Regional Weather Extremes. Ecological Economics 224.
• Zhu, X., M. Vrachioli, E. Baldoni, R. M’Barek, and J. Sauer (2023). Is Biorefinery Establishment Enhancing the EU Labour Market on a Regional Level?. Regional Studies 58 (8).
• Kang, S., F. Frick and J. Sauer (2023). Does Food Quality Certification Improve Eco-efficiency? Empirical Evidence from Chinese Vegetable Production. Food Policy 121.
• A. Ait-Sidhoum, C. Canessa and J. Sauer (2023). Effects of Agri-environment schemes on farm-level Eco-efficiency measures: Empirical evidence from EU countries. Journal of Agricultural Economics74 (2).
• A. Wen, S. Yao and J. Sauer (2022). Shadow prices and abatement cost of soil erosion in Shaanxi Province, China: Convex expectile regression approach. Ecological Economics 201.
• O. Rodriguez and J. Sauer (2022). Payments for Environmental Services and Coffee Production in Colombia - Technical Efficiency across the World Heritage Status Borders. Ecological Economics 200.
• C. Stetter and J. Sauer (2022). Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Eco-Performance at Farm Level: A Parametric Approach. Environmental and Resource Economics 81 (3).
• C. Stetter, P. Mennig and J. Sauer (2021). Using Machine Learning to Identify Heterogeneous Impacts of Agri-Environment Schemes in the EU: A Case Study. European Review of Agricultural Economics 49 (6).
• P. Mennig and J. Sauer (2020). The impact of agri-environment schemes on farm productivity: a DID-matching approach. European Review of Agricultural Economics 47 (3).
• S. Wimmer and J. Sauer (2020). Diversification economies in dairy farming–empirical evidence from Germany. European Review of Agricultural Economics 47 (3).
• F. Frick and J. Sauer (2017). Deregulation and Productivity: Empirical Evidence on Dairy Production. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 100 (1).
• D. Wüpper and J. Sauer (2016). Explaining the performance of contract farming in Ghana: The role of self-efficacy and social capital. Food Policy 62.
• A. Kazukauskas, C. Newman, D.Clancey and J. Sauer (2013). Disinvestment, Farm Size and Gradual Farm Exit. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 95 (5).
• J. Sauer and A. Wossink (2013). Marketed Outputs and Non-Marketed Ecosystem Services. European Review of Agricultural Economics 40 (4).