WIIW The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche

This category lists ‘top think tanks that provide superior innovative research and strategic analyses’ with the aim of ‘advancing debate, facilitating cooperation between relevant actors, maintaining public support and funding, and improving the overall quality of life in one of the relevant countries’. wiiw was ranked behind only Bruegel (Belgium) and Brookings Institution (United States). In 2012, wiiw was included in this global ranking of think tanks for the first time. Since then, the institute has continuously improved its position, from rank 17 (2012) to 14 (2013), 12 (2014), 5 (2015) and 4 (2016, 2017, 2018).

wiiw is an economics think tank based in Vienna. It focuses on Central, East and Southeast Europe (CESEE) as well as four main thematic areas: macroeconomic analysis and policy; labour, migration and income distribution; international trade, competitiveness and FDI; and regional development. In the last year, wiiw’s contributions to economic policy debates in Europe have included:

• CESEE and Austria: Tracking and quantifying the Covid-19 impact in CESEE; analysing the impact of the pandemic on economic relations between Austria and CESEE; a study on the relationship between wages and productivity in CESEE;
• The big EU policy debates: A proposal for a European Covid-19 Recovery Programme together with IMK (Düsseldorf) and OFCE (Paris); proposals for a Carbon Border Tax as part of the European Green Deal; a quantification of the impact of EU Cohesion Policy on regional economic growth; an assessment of the European Union’s Industrial Policy; debating the new EU fiscal policy;
• Western Balkans: A study on the success of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and proposals for a new EU strategy in the region in cooperation with the Bertelsmann Stiftung;
• CIS and Ukraine: Calculating the costs of reconstruction in the Donbass and proposing a way forward for economic recovery in the region; and proposals for a way out of the impasse in Belarus;
• Labour and migration: Studies on the integration of refugees in the Austrian labour market, and establishing that inequality in Austria is higher than previously thought;
• International economics: Analysing the global relations between capital accumulation, global value chains and productivity dynamics and competitiveness; studying the impact of trade policy measures on the quality of traded products.

wiiw President Hannes Swoboda commented on the new ranking: ‘This new top ranking among research institutes dealing with international economics shows the high quality of the work of the wiiw staff.’

wiiw’s Executive Director Mario Holzner, appointed in April 2019, welcomed the results: ‘The top position in this global ranking shows that wiiw helps to shape the international economic policy discourse with its research.’

According to Robert Stehrer, wiiw Scientific Director, ‘this third-place ranking honours wiiw and all its staff for its independent, high-quality research on the various dimensions of international economic integration. Providing sound, evidence-based contributions to the policy debate is more necessary than ever.’

The Global Go To Think Tank ranking is carried out annually by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the Lauder Institute, University of Pennsylvania. Among the evaluation criteria are not only the quality of research and the reputation of the scientific staff, but also the professionality of communication and the impact on political decision-making. Peterson Institute for International Economics, the institute ranked first in previous years, was recognised as a Center of Excellence in an own category.