Tom holds degrees from the Universities of Bonn and Cologne and has taught economics at institutions in Germany, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Tom is Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in England and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Dundee, Scotland. He is currently based at FiFo Institute for Public Economics at the University of Cologne. In his research, Tom studies differences between the private, public and voluntary sectors, focusing on "Who pays for what, and why?". In 2019, Tom co-authored the winning essay for the Richard Koch Breakthrough Prize hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs, proposing a policy to restructure the funding of post-school education and broaden opportunities for young people in the UK. Tom joined INOMICS as Economics Editor where he contributes to the development of educational material for students of economics.
