The Economic Analysis and Research Department

Director of the Economic Analysis Department:  Peter Mooslechner

Senior Advisor Helene Schuberth

Secretariat: Friederike Strohmer

Nicolás Albacete

Dominik Bernhofer 

Peter Lindner MSc

 
Business and Economics Library

The Economic Analysis and Research Department unites the OeNB’s expertise on macroeconomic issues and economic policymaking issues.  In line with the OeNB’s strategic goal to contribute to monetary policy decision-making in the Eurosystem, the section’s main responsibility is to produce theoretically and empirically sound analyses of and research papers on economic issues. A key focus in this field is the analysis of Eastern European issues, an area in which the OeNB has acquired internationally acclaimed expertise over the past ten years. Furthermore, the Economic Analysis and Research Department participates in numerous national and international research networks, cooperating on a wide range of issues with economic research institutions and universities as well as with international organizations and other central banks.

Traditionally, a relatively small central bank also fulfills a number of additional tasks related to economics. In the OeNB, these economics tasks range from the provision of a Business and Economics Library to the publication of economics books, quarterlies and papers and the provision of language services to international representation of the OeNB. The organizational structure of the Economic Analysis and Research Department, which consists of four divisions and two international representative offices, reflects these responsibilities.

• The Economic Analysis Division monitors and analyzes monetary policy and real-economy and financial market developments in Austria.  Moreover, it coordinates and processes OeNB economics publications and runs the office of the Federal Debt Committee. 
• The Foreign Research Division provides country-specific as well as cross-country analyses of internationally relevant economic issues with a focus on the EU and the euro area and, in particular, on Eastern European countries. 
• The European Affairs and International Financial Organizations Division deals with the institutional aspects of European integration. It is in charge of relations with and the analysis of international financial organizations, in particular the IMF. 
• The Economic Studies Division is the main research center within the Economic Analysis and Research Department. It produces research papers on monetary policy issues and on empirical questions relevant to the OeNB. 
• The OeNB’s Brussels Representative Office serves as a link between European Union institutions and the OeNB. It guarantees an efficient information exchange between Brussels and Vienna as well as the OeNB’s representation in relevant EU bodies. 
• The Business and Economics Library, which reports directly to the Director of the Economic Analysis and Research Section, manages the OeNB’s stock of economic journals, books and other publications and provides literature research services for OeNB employees.    

Geographically speaking, the Economic Analysis and Research Department focuses on three areas: (1) the EU/Eurosystem, (2) Eastern Europe and (3) Austria.

• Much of the Economic Analysis and Research Department’s output is directly and indirectly produced for and targeted at the EU and the ECB/Eurosystem as a consequence of the OeNB’s representation in these institutions and their economic research and analysis activities. 
• At the same time, the section provides services for national economic policy institutions and the Austrian public.  The Economic Analysis and Research Department offers independent analyses of economic policy issues, participates in numerous economic policymaking bodies, provides information about the Eurosystem’s monetary policy and economic policy reforms needed at the national level.  These activities include cooperation with multilateral international institutions, e.g. participation in the country reviews of the IMF and the OECD. 
• In its analyses of Eastern European countries, the Economic Analysis and Research Department has a comparative advantage, in particular because of its expertise on those neighboring countries which became new EU Member States in May 2004.  The OeNB is, however, expanding its focus toward Southeastern Europe.  Its efforts in connection with the Joint Vienna Institute (JVI), an international Vienna-based training center for employees of economic policy institutions in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the CIS, financed by the OeNB, Austria’s Federal Ministry of Finance and the IMF, are a case in point. The Economic Analysis and Research Department’s expertise on Eastern Europe is also presented on a CEEC platform (ceec.oenb.at).    

The output of the Economic Analysis and Research Section for the public include, above all, its publications and the events it organizes. The publications offered range from Monetary Policy and the Economy, a quarterly review of economic policy, to special publications on the OeNB’s conferences and workshops to the Focus on European Economic Integration, which covers on CEEC-related economic issues. In its quarterly electronic Newsletter, the Economic Analysis and Research Section presents up-to-date information on its activities and output to a broad national and international readership. Major OeNB events like the annual Economics Conference and the Conference on European Economic Integration, as well as a large number of workshops, seminars and lectures are also important aspects of the section’s manifold activities.