Christian Dreger is professor of economics at the Viadrina University Frankfurt/O and head of the macroanalysis and forecasting department at DIW Berlin. He received his PhD in 1995 from the University of Kassel and finished his habilitation in 2005. He has a wide experience in building mac-roeconometric models for the euro area and the German Economy. His research interests include business cycle forecasting methods, dynamic factor models, paneleconometrics, and spatial econo-metrics. He has published his work in journals such as Journal for International Money and Finance, Journal of Policy Modelling, and Regional Studies. He joined IZA as a research fellow in December 2004.