I am a PhD Student in Economics at Freie Universität Berlin and Berlin School of Economics. Additionally, I am a contributor to the LNRI Project and a Kiel Institute Junior Fellow. Previously, I was a predoctoral researcher at the MacroFinance & MacroHistory Lab at the University of Bonn.

My research interests are topics at the intersection of labor and macroeconomics, with a focus on spatial questions. Currently, I work on regional wage disparities, local political consequences of energy price shocks, and housing costs as a barrier to labor mobility.

Feel free to get in touch at any time!

Contact: m.tran[at]fu-berlin.de

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Work in Progress

Pulled Apart: Spatial Wage Inequality in Advanced Economies, 1975–2019
with Sébastien Breau, Luis Bauluz, Pawel Bukowski, Mark Fransham, Annie Lee, Neil Lee, Margarita López Forero, Clément Malgouyres, Filip Novokmet, Moritz Schularick and Gregory Verdugo
New draft available soon (Q4 2026) | Website

Abstract

We build the first harmonized database on spatial wage inequality from administrative microdata across Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US since the mid-1970s. Over the past four decades, spatial wage inequality has risen sharply, driven mainly by high wage earners pulling away in a handful of large cities. Workers near the top of the distribution earn substantially more in large cities than elsewhere, and this gap has widened markedly since 1980. In contrast, wages near the bottom have grown more slowly in large cities than in smaller labor markets. This geographic asymmetry accounts for roughly half of the rise in national wage inequality, making geography central to the story of growing inequality in advanced nations.

Energy Prices and Populism
with Fernanda Ballesteros and Carmen van Klaveren
Draft in preparation

Abstract

tbd

Labor Mobility and Housing Costs
with Britta Gehrke and Nicolas Sycrichas
Draft in preparation

Abstract

tbd

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Linking National and Regional Inequality (LNRI)

The LNRI Project is an ongoing initiative to provide open and convenient access to an international database of micro statistics on regional income inequality. All statistics are obtained from administrative data on labor and capital incomes collected from social security records, personal income tax returns and/or population censuses. For comparison, the data from each country are harmonized.

You can find more information here: regional-inequality.org

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Teaching

Berlin School of Economics

Preparatory Math Course (PhD, English)
Winter 26/27
Lecturer

Freie Universität Berlin

Bridge Course in Mathematics (B.Sc., German)
Winter 24/25, 25/26, 26/27
Lecturer

Mathematics for Economists (B.Sc., German)
Winter 23/24, 24/25, 25/26, 26/27
Teaching Assistant

Introduction to Econometrics (B.Sc./M.Sc., English)
Summer 24, 25, 26
Teaching Assistant
Winner of the Award for Outstanding Teaching at the School of Business & Economics in 2025