Zimmermann is also Professor Emeritus of Bonn University and Maastricht University, acts as the President of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) and as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Population Economics, and is affiliated with UNU-MERIT, Maastricht.

Election to the CORE Academy Fellowship recognizes distinguished scholars whose work has made sustained and enduring contributions to research, scholarship, academic leadership, and the advancement of knowledge across the sciences and humanities.

As CORE Academy has noted:

Klaus F. Zimmermann: “A leading labor and migration economist, Professor Zimmermann is recognized for influential research on population economics, migration, labor markets, economic policy, and the development of international research networks in economics.”

As announced by the CORE Academy April 2026 Newsletter, Zimmermann has been elected with 23 other top scientists based world-wide, including economist and Nobel Prize Winner Jim Heckman.

“Election to the Fellowship of CORE Academy is a lifetime distinction conferred upon individuals whose achievements have made significant and enduring contributions to their fields. The newly elected Fellows represent a broad spectrum of intellectual achievement across the natural sciences, engineering and applied sciences, medicine, information technology, social sciences, and the humanities.

The Academy warmly congratulates all newly elected Fellows and looks forward to their continued contributions to scholarship, international academic cooperation, and the future development of CORE Academy.”

Ends;

The Editor‑in‑Chief, Klaus F. Zimmermann, and the entire editorial team express their sincere appreciation for this recognition of their substantial daily editorial efforts. JOPE handled more than 1,200 submissions in 2025, publishing 88 manuscripts, and anticipates approximately 1,500 submissions in 2026.

As Springer Nature Chief Scientific Officer Ritu Dhand writes on May 26, 2026:

“Dear Klaus F Zimmermann,

Your dedication to your journals and research communities is truly inspiring. By expanding your journal’s network, supporting your authors, and advocating for your communities, you play a vital role in advancing discovery.

This outstanding contribution deserves recognition, and you are being honoured through the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Awards…

By rewarding you, we recognise the vital role you play in managing the peer review process and demonstrate our commitment to showcasing these activities. We greatly appreciate the time and expertise you dedicate to helping authors improve their manuscripts and are proud to work with you to build successful journals.

Congratulations and thank you for your dedication to your authors and advancing discovery!”

Research.com, a ranking platform for researchers, has just released the 2026 edition of its World Ranking of Best Scientists in Economics and Finance. Klaus F. Zimmermann (UNU MERIT & Professor Emeritus of Maastricht University) is ranked 315 worldwide and holds a top position in the Netherlands, highlighting outstanding contributions to the field.

Further, Zimmermann has been honored with the 2026 Research.com Economics and Finance in Netherlands Leader Award recognizing his impact and leadership in economic research.

The ranking is based on D-index (Discipline H-index) metric, which only includes papers and citation values for an examined discipline. The ranking includes only leading scientists with D-index of at least 30 for academic publications made in the area of Economics and Finance.

• The full world ranking is available here. 
• The full ranking for Netherlands is available here. 
• Zimmermann on Research.com

NOTE

• The ranking organization RePEc has listed Zimmermann 418 among its 73,444 authors worldwide (below top 1%; May 9, 2026).

Klaus F. Zimmermann (Professor Emeritus of Bonn & Maastricht Universities) and affiliated with UNU-MERIT, Maastricht, is the Editor-in-Chief of JOPE, which he created 40 years ago. It is published by Springer Nature.

In March 2026, JOPE was ranked A* on the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC) Journal Quality List.  This is the highest ranking a journal can achieve, reserved for a select group of journals demonstrating truly exceptional global impact.

In 2025, JOPE’s Editor-in-Chief had received for his work two Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Awards. 

While in 2025, 84% of authors rated their publishing experience with Springer Nature as excellent or good, the figure was 93% among JOPE authors suggesting that the journal provides excellent services to its authors.

JOPE expects to receive about 1,500 submissions in 2026.

From: Springer Nature 
Date: Thu, May 21, 2026 at 11:02 AM
Subject: Celebrating your journal’s contributions to the SDGs

Dear Klaus F Zimmermann,

We are delighted to let you know that in 2025, over half of the articles you published in Journal of Population Economics  related to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

In celebration of this important contribution, we want to acknowledge your journal’s significant impact on SDG-related research with your community. The journal website now displays our SDG badge along with the following text: 

“We are proud to acknowledge that over 50% of the articles published in Journal of Population Economics  in 2025 were related to one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Springer Nature supports the SDGs through a dedicated SDG Programme and is a signatory of the SDG Publishers Compact.” 

See Journal of Population Economics updates →

Your journal’s contribution to advancing the SDGs deserves recognition, and you can take pride in seeing this impact acknowledged publicly.

Congratulations and thank you for your continued support! 

Best regards, 

Nicola Jones  
Director, Springer Nature SDG Programme  

This strength also reflects a deep commitment to service. While in 2025, 84% of authors rated their publishing experience with Springer Nature as excellent or good, the figure was 93% among JOPE authors. JOPE authors also stated:

• “The editors managed the peer review process well” (93%).
• “The editorial advice and comments throughout the process helped to improve the paper” (100%).

According to the ABDC’s 2025 Journal Quality List released on March 26, 2026, the Journal of Population Economics (JOPE) has been upgraded from A to A*. This is not a marginal move….

*****

The Editor-in-Chief and the Board of Editors are proud to announce that the Journal of Population Economics has been upgraded from A to A* on the ABDC Journal Quality List, the highest ranking a journal can achieve, reserved for a select group of journals demonstrating truly exceptional global impact.

This recognition is especially timely, reflecting the journal’s commitment to high-quality research. JOPE has been firing on all cylinders for some time, including:

606,400+ downloads in 2025 with over 1,200 submissions and a final acceptance rate of 7%.

Ranked 2nd out of 140 journals in demography (CiteScore 2024, Scopus) and in the top 10% of all economics journals worldwide

Over 50% of articles published in 2025 were linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: evidence of research that matters beyond academia!

44% (2024) and 79% (2023) greater citation impact than the average journal in its category

An h-index of 91 (reported by Scopus in 2025) meaning that 91 of all published articles have each been cited more than 91 times

A five-year Impact Factor of 4.3 and a CiteScore of 8.7 (both measured in 2025 for 2024) further underscore the journal’s standing.

The A* designation places the Journal of Population Economics among the most elite publications across all business and economics disciplines globally. It is the culmination of decades of rigorous, policy-relevant research on the forces that shape human societies, namely fertility, migration, ageing, labour markets, health, and beyond.

To our authors, reviewers, editorial board, and readers: this is your achievement. Thank you for making this journal a home for the world’s best population economics research.

The bar is high. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

A literary “random walk” in the face of fate: Premiere of “Jacques the Fatalist and His Master” based on Denis Diderot at the Bonn Theater on February 28, 2026. Reading and performance were so much fun…..

Rechts: General-Anzeiger Bonn, 2. 3. 2026, S. 8.

Ends;

Expanding EU-level issuance is justifiable
by Klaus F. Zimmermann

Public debt in the euro area is high and continues to rise significantly, necessitating a cautious, rules-based approach. Eurostat has reported that the euroarea’s debt ratio stood at 88 percent of GDP in early 2025, with the entire European Union at about 82 percent. There is considerable variation among member countries. Given the current global economic, financial, and political climate, it is anticipated that aggregate debt will increase substantially over the medium term under various plausible scenarios. Consequently, it is essential to rebuild fiscal buffers while simultaneously prioritizing investments that enhance potential growth and maintain support for Ukraine as a European public good.

A novel approach to fiscal management and market liquidity is achievable, though it should remain narrowly focused in the short term. Under the European Commission’s “unified funding” model, the European Union issues pooled “EU-Bonds” under a single label and adheres to semi-annual funding plans. Eurex, the main European derivatives exchange owned by Deutsche Börse, has recently introduced physically deliverable futures on EU-Bonds, offering investors a standardized method to hedge against fluctuations in EU-Bond yields. Provided that issuance remains predictable and transparent, these contracts are expected to enhance secondary market liquidity by connecting cash, repo, and derivatives markets.

Legally, EU-issued securities are obligations of the Union that are used to finance EU programs. The EU budget must be in balance, Article 310 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union requires that revenue and expenditure match. While short-term borrowing on capital markets has been authorized, these liabilities must be repaid in full and in sequence. This approach is distinct from taking on member state legacy debts, highlighting the importance of keeping EU borrowing tied to specific programs and time-limited. Deviating from this approach would not align with European treaties.

Germany has not abolished its debt brake but has constitutionally narrowed it. In March 2025, the Bundestag and Bundesrat approved exemptions for defense expenditures exceeding roughly 1 percent of GDP and established a substantial, multi-year infrastructure special fund. From a conservative standpoint, this approach heightens execution risk and necessitates credible medium-term consolidation. Current experiences already reveal displacement effects: transfers from the core budget into the new fund have created space for non-investment consumption items, effectively crowding out net new public infrastructure efforts and undermining the reform’s stated intent. This dynamic highlights the significant risks associated with the chosen approach and underscores the importance of firm guardrails.

Therefore, expanding EU-level issuance is justifiable for well-defined European public goods, such as defense readiness (including ongoing support for Ukraine), energy security, single-market deepening, and climate-critical infrastructure, as long as it is grounded in transparent program law, strict conditionality, and repayment plans within the European Union’s seven-year long-term budget. With these safeguards, deeper EU issuance and the new futures market can enhance liquidity and resilience without obscuring sovereign-risk pricing; without them, mutualization would invite moral hazard and undermine market credibility.

Expanding EU-level issuance is justifiable. in: The International Economy. The magazine of international economic policy, With EU-Bonds, Is Europe Playing With Fire?, Summer 2025, pp. 46-47. Contribution by Klaus F. Zimmermann. LINK to the complete published material.

Ends;

In the famous Bundestag debate on the ratification of the Germany Treaty on December 3, 1952, when I was just one day old, he said: “We are faced with a choice between slavery and freedom. We choose freedom. (Wir stehen vor der Wahl zwischen Sklaverei und Freiheit. Wir wählen die Freiheit.) ”

On the Petersberg near Bonn on December 14, 2025.

Ends;

Drachenburg Castle near Bonn, December 20, 2025