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| WIFO | |
|---|---|
| Name | WIFO |
| Native name | Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung |
| Established | 1927 |
| Type | Research institute |
| Location | Vienna, Austria |
| Director | Gabriel Felbermayr |
| Staff | ~200 |
WIFO The Austrian Institute of Economic Research is a Vienna-based policy research institute founded in 1927 that produces analyses on macroeconomic trends, structural change, labor markets, and fiscal policy. It informs Austrian and European decision makers through forecasting, scenario analysis, and sectoral studies while engaging with academic institutions, international organizations, and social partners. Its outputs include regular macroeconomic forecasts, industry reports, and data compilations used in debates about taxation, social insurance, and trade.
Founded in 1927, the institute emerged amid interwar debates influenced by figures such as Hjalmar Schacht, John Maynard Keynes, Gustav Stresemann, and institutions like the League of Nations that sought to stabilize postwar reconstruction. During the 1930s and 1940s it navigated political upheavals including the Austrofascism period and the Anschluss while maintaining links with European statistical and research communities such as the International Labour Organization and the League of Nations Economic and Financial Organization. Post-1945 reconstruction and integration initiatives like the Marshall Plan and the formation of the OEEC shaped its role in advising on industrial policy, while later European integration milestones — including the Treaty of Rome, the European Economic Community, and the Maastricht Treaty — expanded its engagement with supranational policy debates. In recent decades it has responded to crises such as the 1973 oil crisis, the 2008 financial crisis, and the European sovereign debt crisis, aligning its work with contemporary actors like the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The institute is governed by a supervisory board that historically includes representatives from social partners such as the Austrian Trade Union Federation, the Austrian Economic Chambers, and public institutions including the Federal Ministry of Finance (Austria) and regional authorities like the City of Vienna. Its executive leadership, comprising a director and research directors, interfaces with academic networks including universities like the University of Vienna, the Vienna University of Economics and Business, and international centers such as the London School of Economics, the Harvard Kennedy School, and the European University Institute. Advisory committees include eminent scholars and practitioners who have ties to institutions such as the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, and the European Central Bank, ensuring oversight and alignment with professional standards exemplified by associations like the International Economic Association.
Research spans macroeconomic forecasting, labor market analysis, sectoral studies (manufacturing, services, tourism), fiscal policy, social insurance, and international trade. Regular publications include macroeconomic projections comparable to those by the European Commission and the OECD, sectoral reports akin to analyses from UNCTAD and the World Trade Organization, and working papers similar to series from the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Centre for Economic Policy Research. The institute publishes journals, policy briefs, and statistical yearbooks used by parliaments such as the Austrian Parliament, ministries like the Federal Ministry of Labour and courts such as the Austrian Constitutional Court for evidence-based deliberation. Its authors have contributed to debates involving figures and frameworks associated with Milton Friedman, Amartya Sen, Paul Krugman, and empirical traditions exemplified by the Frisch Centre.
Methodologies combine structural macroeconomic models, input-output analysis, computable general equilibrium models, econometric time-series techniques, and microsimulation approaches paralleling those employed at the Centre for European Policy Studies and the IZA Institute of Labor Economics. Data sources include national accounts from agencies like Statistics Austria, labor force surveys analogous to the European Labour Force Survey, trade statistics comparable to datasets from the United Nations Statistical Division, and administrative records maintained by entities such as the Austrian Public Employment Service. Modeling draws on standards used by the European System of Accounts and aligns with forecasting practices found at the Bundesbank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, and central banks represented in the European System of Central Banks.
The institute provides advisory services to Austrian ministries, regional governments, parliamentary committees, social partners including the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, and international organizations like the European Commission and the World Bank. Its forecasts and impact assessments inform budget deliberations in the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance and contribute to social policy reforms touching institutions such as the Austrian Social Insurance Fund (ASVG) and pension authorities. It has testified before bodies akin to committees of the Austrian National Council and contributed analyses referenced in policy dialogues involving the European Central Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Collaborative relationships span universities like the University of Innsbruck and the Graz University of Technology, research networks such as the Network of European Policy Research Institutes and the European Macro-Modeling Network, and international organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Commission. Project partnerships have included joint work with think tanks such as the Bruegel and the Centre for European Reform, as well as exchanges with labor and employer associations like the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber and international counterparts such as the Confederation of British Industry.
Funding is mixed, deriving from public grants provided by national and regional authorities including the Federal Ministry of Finance (Austria) and the Province of Lower Austria, project-based contracts from international organizations like the European Commission and the World Bank, commissioned research for social partners such as the Austrian Trade Union Federation, and competitive research grants from foundations similar to the Austrian Science Fund and the European Research Council. Financial oversight follows standards compatible with auditing practices exercised by institutions such as the Austrian Court of Audit and aligns reporting with requirements from funding bodies including the European Commission.
Category:Research institutes in Austria