The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies
Established1972; 52 years ago (1972)
FocusInternational Economics, Macroeconomics, Labour Markets, Migration, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe
PresidentHannes Swoboda[1]
ChairMario Holzner (Executive Director) Robert Stehrer[2] (Scientific Director)
Budget€3.7 million (2020)
AddressRahlgasse 3, 1060 Vienna, Austria
Websitewww.wiiw.ac.at

The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw) is a non-partisan, non-profit economic research institute specialised in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, based in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1972 and is currently headed by Mario Holzner.[3]

With a budget of 3.7 million euros and just under 40 employees (2020),[4] wiiw is the third largest economic research institution in Austria after the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) and the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS).[5][6] Among the Austrian economic think tanks, wiiw is the only one with a primarily international orientation.[7]

In February 2022, it signed a memorandum of understanding[8] together with the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), the Austrian Institute of Technology and Joanneum Research, establishing 16 principles of scientific integrity for commissioned studies.[9][10]

The institute monitors and conducts economic research on currently 23 countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe[11] including Russia, Ukraine,[12] Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Visegrád countries Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Slovakia as well as the Balkans and Turkey. Furthermore, wiiw focuses on macroeconomics,[13][14] trade, competitiveness, investment, the European integration process, regional development, labour markets, migration and income distribution.[15]

Board

The Economic Advisory Board of the institute consists of Rumen Dobrinsky (formerly UNECE), Barry Eichengreen (University of California, Berkeley), Elhanan Helpman (Harvard University), Dani Rodrik (Princeton University), Dariusz Rosati (Warsaw School of Economics), Robert E. Rowthorn (University of Cambridge), André Sapir (Université libre de Bruxelles and Bruegel), Alan Winters (University of Sussex) and Charles Wyposz (Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies).[16]

Publications

One of wiiw's most well-known publications is the Forecast Report CESEE. It analyses the economies of 23 countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) and provides a detailed forecast of the macroeconomic indicators of the following countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine.[17]

The Forecast Report CESEE regularly receives a broad echo in the Austrian and international media.[18][19][20][21][22][23]

wiiw also provides expertise on the Western Balkans,[24] Iran[25][26] and China.[27][28]

Together with the World Bank,[29] the Institute regularly publishes the Western Balkans Labor Market Trends report.[30][31][32][33]

wiiw's proposal of a "European Silk Road" to build a high-speed rail link along two routes connecting Lisbon to Uralsk and Milan to Volgograd and Baku drew a lot of international attention.[34] An update on the climate effect of a "European Silk Road" was discussed in Austrian[35] and international[36] media.

International recognition

In the global think tank ranking of the University of Pennsylvania, in 2020 wiiw again scored third in the category "International Economic Policy Think Tanks", ranking only behind Bruegel (Belgium) and Brookings Institution (United States).[37] This category lists "top think tanks" that "provide outstanding innovative research and strategic analysis". The ranking is based on surveys of experts from academia, politics and NGOs as well as peer institutions. The first time wiiw was included in this global ranking of think tanks was in 2012. Since then, the Institute has steadily improved from rank 17 (2012) to 14 (2013), 12 (2014), 5 (2015), 4 (2016,[38] 2017, 2018) and 3 (2019, 2020).[39]

In 2020, nine wiiw economists once again received a total of 17 top-3 awards at the Focus Economics Analyst Forecast Awards for the forecast accuracy of their macroeconomic forecasts for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe.[40]

The Focus Economics Awards honour analysts for the accuracy of their monthly forecast reports. The accuracy is measured by their average deviations from the current values. Forecasts are assessed over a period of two years, so in this case forecasts for 2019 since the beginning of 2018 were taken into account. With a total of 17 top 3 awards, the wiiw forecasts for Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe are in no way inferior to institutions such as Oxford Economics (17), Fitch Solutions (14) or Raiffeisen Bank (10).[40][4]

References

  1. ^ Dr. Hannes Swoboda new wiiw president. wiiw press release from 1 December 2015
  2. ^ Robert Stehrer was nominated new Scientific Director of wiiw. wiiw press release from 8 March 2016
  3. ^ "New Managing Director at wiiw" (PDF). The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies. 2 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b Jahresbericht 2020 (annual report 2020) (PDF) (in German). The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw). 2021.
  5. ^ "Geschäftsbericht 2020 - Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)". www.oenb.at. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  6. ^ christina.hiptmayr (2016-09-28). "Die Meinungsfabrikanten: Wirtschaftsforschungs-Institute im Check". profil.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  7. ^ Mayrhofer, Petra (March 2015). "Rolle der Oesterreichischen Nationalbank bei West-Ost-Transfers im Rahmen des Wiener Instituts für Wirtschaftsvergleiche 1972/73-1991" (PDF). Oesterreichische Nationalbank.
  8. ^ "Prinzipien wissenschaftlicher Integrität". www.ihs.ac.at. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  9. ^ "Growing Momentum for Research Integrity Initiative - WIFO". www.wifo.ac.at. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  10. ^ APA. "Auftragsstudien: Institute fordern Offenheit und Dialog mit Politik". science.apa.at (in German). Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  11. ^ "Countries Overview". wiiw.ac.at. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  12. ^ Dunai, Marton (27 April 2022). "Ukraine war derails eastern Europe's growth prospects". Financial Times. Retrieved 2023-06-01.
  13. ^ "Staatsschulden: Kommt nach der Krise das große Sparen in Europa?". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  14. ^ ingrid.steiner (2021-10-26). "Warum ausgrechnet die EU-Schuldenbekämpfer die Schuldenlatte höher legen". kurier.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  15. ^ "Research Areas". wiiw.ac.at. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  16. ^ "Economic Advisory Board". wiiw.ac.at. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  17. ^ Recovery Beating Expectations (publication).
  18. ^ Auer, 20 10 2021 um 20:14 von Matthias (2021-10-20). "Der Aufschwung der Impfmuffel". Die Presse (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-22.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Osteuropas Wirtschaft wächst und Österreichs Unternehmen winken Gewinne". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  20. ^ "Wachstum treibt Preise – auch bei Immobilien". kurier.at (in German). 2021-10-21. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  21. ^ Online, Wiener Zeitung (20 October 2021). "CEE-Konjunktur - Osteuropas Wirtschaft wächst stark". Wirtschaft International - Wiener Zeitung Online (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  22. ^ "ORF-Radiothek". oe1.orf.at. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  23. ^ "Neue Wirtschaftsprognosen für Osteuropa". Ostexperte.de. 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-10-29.
  24. ^ Neue Zürcher Zeitung. "Die EU braucht neue Optionen für den Westbalkan".
  25. ^ "'Iran's economy is closer than ever to collapse,' says expert". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  26. ^ "Der Iran braucht einen Deal". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  27. ^ oe1.orf.at. "China bremsen - aber ohne Provokation | FR | 18 06 2021 | 13:00". oe1.orf.at (in German). Retrieved 2021-10-22.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ^ "Interaktiv: Chinas weltweite Shoppingtour". Der Pragmaticus (in German). 2021-09-20. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  29. ^ "Western Balkans Show Improved Labor Market Performance, but Challenges Remain for Women, Youth and Less Educated Workers (press release". World Bank. March 19, 2019. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2017". World Bank. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  31. ^ Group, World Bank; Studies, Vienna Institute for International Economic (2018-03-16). "Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2018". doi:10.1596/29538. hdl:10986/31427. ((cite journal)): Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  32. ^ "Western Balkans Labor Market Trends: 2019". World Bank. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  33. ^ "ESAP Observatory | Western Balkans Labor Market Trends 2020". www.esap.online. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  34. ^ The Editorial Board (2019-11-28). "Europe needs its own Belt and Road Initiative". Financial Times. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  35. ^ "Zug statt Flug? Wie ein riesiges Bahnnetz Europa nachhaltig verbinden könnte". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  36. ^ Grzegorczyk, Marek (2022-01-25). "A European Silk Road makes both economic and environmental sense". Emerging Europe. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  37. ^ McGann, James (2021-01-28). "2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report". TTCSP Global Go to Think Tank Index Reports (18).
  38. ^ "WIIW zählt zu den besten der Welt". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 2021-10-23.
  39. ^ "TTCSP Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports | Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) | University of Pennsylvania". repository.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2021-10-22.
  40. ^ a b creator (2016-04-04). "Best Economic Forecaster Awards". FocusEconomics. Retrieved 2021-10-23.

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