Profile

Professional career

• 04/1986 - 10/1993
  research assistant at Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Bert Rürup at the Institute for Public Finance at the Technical University of Darmstadt
• 04/1994 - 10/2009
  Director of the Institute for Finance at the University of Leipzig
• 04/2011 - 04/2022
  Deputy rector and prorector for development and transfer at the University of Leipzig
• since 04/1993
  Professor of Public Finance at the University of Leipzig
• since 10/2006
  Director of the Center for International Economic Relations at the University of Leipzig (ZIW)
• since 04/2009
  Director of the Institute for Public Finance and Public Management
• since 10/2009
  Director of the Competence Center for Public Economy, Infrastructure and Services of General Interest e. V.
• since 01/2010
  Director of the competence center for municipal infrastructure in Saxony (KOMKIS) (formerly the PPP competence center Saxony)

Education

• 10/1978 - 09/1985
  Studied industrial engineering (specializing in mechanical engineering) at the Technical University of Darmstadt
• 08/1985 - 07/1988
  Thesis on the topic: 'Telework - Possibilities and limits of a tele-communicative decentralization of company workplaces' at Darmstadt Technical University
• 08/1988 - 06/1992
  Habilitation on the topic: 'Reform needs and reform possibilities of the federal German financial equalization - a simulation study' at the Technical University of Darmstadt
• since 07/1992
  Granting of the venia legendi for the subject of economics

Panel Memberships

• since 06/1987
  Member of the Association for Social Policy
• since 10/1993
  Member of the budget commission of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Leipzig
• 10/1993 - 09/1995
  Library representative of the faculty
• 10/1993 - 09/1995
  Representative of economists in the study commission
• 10/1993 - 09/1996
  Member of the council of the University of Leipzig
• 10/1993 - 09/1996
  Faculty Council member
• since 01/1994
  Editor of working papers and publications of the Institute for Public Finance and Public Management (formerly: Institute for Finance)
• since 06/1994
  Member of the examination board of the Administration and Business Academy Leipzig (VWA)
• since 06/1994
  Member of the Association of Local Public Economics (ALPES)
• since 06/1994
  Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Moritzbastei Leipzig Foundation
• since 10/1996
  Chairman of the budget commission of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Leipzig
• since 03/1997
  Curator AIESEC Leipzig
• since 06/1997
  Member of the Finance Committee
• 10/1998 - 02/2011
  Member of the central budget commission of the University of Leipzig
• 06/1999 - 06/2000
  Member of the supervisory board of Internet-AG, Frankfurt
• 10/1999 - 09/2000
  Economists spokesman
• 10/1999 - 02/2011
  Deputy chairman of the central budget commission of the University of Leipzig
• 06/2000 - 06/2002
  Co-founder and managing director of inomic - reseach & coaching GmbH, Leipzig
• 06/2000 - 06/2005
  Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Contas AG, Leipzig
• 01/2003 - 06/2007
  Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Society for Public Economy
• 01/2003 - 12/2015
  Senior partner of inomic GmbH, Leipzig
• 06/2004 - 06/2005
  Expert forum Leipzig, convened by Mayor Tiefensee
• 01/2005 - 06/2006
  Supervisory board member BBVl
• 01/2005 - 06/2006
  Cultural Development Advisory Board of the City of Leipzig
• 10/2005 - 09/2006
  Economists spokesman
• since 01/2006
  Co-editor „Transformation – Leipziger Beiträge zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft“
• since 01/2007
  Co-editor of "Schriften zur öffentlichen Verwaltung und öffentlichen Wirtschaft"
• since 01/2007
  Co-organizer "Leipzig Seminar Economics and Practice"
• 01/2007 - 06/2010
  Moderator in the jour fix „Kulturentwicklungsplanung“
• 10/2007 - 09/2008
  Member of the council of the University of Leipzig
• 06/2007 - 06/2008
  Faculty Council member
• since 01/2008
  Co-editor "Zeitschrift für öffentliche und gemeinnützige Unternehmen ZögU"
• since 01/2009
  Co-editor "Jahrbuch für öffentliche Finanzen"
• 01/2009 - 01/2011
  Member of the review board for economics of the German Research Foundation DFG
• 06/2009 - 06/2012
  Deputy Chairman of the Administrative Board of the Leipzig Student Union
• 01/2010 - 01/2011
  Senator of the University of Leipzig
• since 01/2011
  Member of the Board of Trustees at the Humanities Center for the History and Culture of East Central Europe (GWZO) at the University of Leipzig
• since 01/2011
  Member of the Leipzig Regional Forum
• since 01/2015
  Member of the supervisory board of the European Metropolitan Region of Central Germany
• since 01/2017
  Chairman of the University Foundation Leipzig, "Stiftung bürgerlichen Rechts"
• since 06/2017
  Member of the independent advisory board of the Stability Council

Prof. Dr. Thomas Lenk conducts research on a variety of topics and methods. First and foremost, he focuses on fiscal federalism (especially federal-state fiscal relations), on which he regularly publishes journal articles, newspaper articles and expert opinions.

In the context of his work on the independent advisory board of the Stability Council of the Federal Republic of Germany, he also deals in detail with the debt brake and its effects on public finances. In addition, Prof. Dr. Lenk has many years of experience in the field of municipal finance, including in particular municipal fiscal equalization. Furthermore, he deals with the broad field of public economics, which includes, for example, municipal interest and debt management or urban mobility.

• Lenk, T.; Bender, C.; Springsklee, M.

  Effiziente Transferwege der Bundesmittel im föderalen Gefüge

  In: Junkernheinrich, M.; Korioth, S.; Lenk, T.; Scheller, H.; Woisin, M. (Eds.)

  Jahrbuch für öffentliche Finanzen 2-2021. Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. 2021. pp. 171–185.

  ISBN: 978-3-8305-5147-8
  show details
• Lenk, T.; Hesse, M.; Kolb, K. B.; Goldammer, M. E. (Eds.)

  Gemeindefinanzbericht Sachsen 2020/21

  Sachsenlandkurier . 2021. 30 (5).
  show details
• Lenk, T.; Bender, C.; Hesse, M.

  Zwischen Tilgung und Pandemiebewältigung: Die Länderhaushalte unter Druck

  In: Scheller, H.; Junkernheinrich, M.; Korioth, S.; Lenk, T. (Eds.)

  Finanzgeschichtsschreibung und finanzföderaler Diskurs in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Berlin: Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag. 2021. pp. 263–279.

  ISBN: 978-3-8305-5151-5
  show details
• Lenk, T.; Bender, C.; Glinka, P.

  The German Debt Brake – Approaches for an Improvement of the Technical Design

  Quarterly Journal of Economic Research. 2020. 89 (1). pp. 31–43.
  show details
• Hesse, M.; Lenk, T.; Glinka, P.

  Öffentliche Haushalte in Ost- und Westdeutschland nach 30 Jahren – Vergleichende Bestandsaufnahme aus finanzwissenschaftlicher Perspektive

  Sozialer Fortschritt. 2020. 69. (6-7). pp. 395–416.
  show details

more publications

Together with Prof. Dr. Weiß, Prof. Dr. Thomas Lenk offers the module "Introduction to Economics", which Bachelor students take in the first semester. He is responsible for the sub-module "Introduction to Economics", which deals with the basics of microeconomics and macroeconomics, national accounts, monetary theory and monetary policy as well as national financial and economic policy.

In addition, he is responsible, in cooperation with Prof. Dr. Schnabl, for the module "Government and Economics", which is aimed at Bachelor students in their fourth semester. He teaches the sub-module "Finanzwissenschaft: Einnahmenlehre" (Finance: Revenue Theory), which deals with the standards of public taxation, the basics of the tax system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the federal fiscal equalization system, the German social security system and the theory of public debt.

In addition, he offers the following modules:

• Finance: Expenditure Theory (Bachelor's program).
• Allocative fiscal policy (Master's program)
• Distributive and Stability-Oriented Fiscal Policy (Master's program)