Inside ifo 2022
We keep moving – in 2022, a lot happened at the ifo Institute. Our data center is now independent, our researchers received awards, they helped shape debates through offices, and some of our committees were re-staffed. And the Gender Task Force also developed ideas that are already having an impact.
Data Center Becomes Independent
The LMU-ifo Economics & Business Data Center (EBDC) was spun off from the Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies in 2022, and is now an independent unit at the ifo Institute. It is headed by Sebastian Wichert, who continues to work as a research employee at the ifo Center for Industrial Organization and New Technologies. The EBDC was originally designed to prepare the data of the ifo company surveys, previously only accessible in-house, and make it available to external researchers in anonymized form. Further tasks were added over time: central digitalized data acquisition, advice on research data management and the expansion of in-house capacity in this field, as well as a secure cloud-based research data infrastructure. The newly independent EBDC is involved in many cross-disciplinary big data projects, organizes workshops, and cooperates with the CESifo cluster “Economic Research with Firm Data”. To provide the research groups on big data economics with optimum support from the outset, a doctoral student in data science joined the EBDC staff. The long-term aim is to become the central port of call for ifo researchers in big data projects.
Prizes for Junior Researchers
Sarah Kiesl-Reiter, doctoral student at the ifo Center for International Institutional Comparisons and Migration Research, received the “Rising Financial Literacy Scholar Award” of the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC) for her paper “The Gender Gap in Financial Literacy: Does Ideology Matter?”. She presented the study at the Cherry Blossom Financial Education Institute at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Marc Fabel, a doctoral student at the ifo Center for Labor and Demographic Economics until 2021, received the science prize for the best health economics publication of the year, “Maternity Leave and Children’s Health Outcomes in the Long Term”, published in Journal of Health Economics 76 2021. The prize was awarded by the German Health Economics Association.
Shaper of the Economic Policy Debate …
… in Councils
Karen Pittel, Head of the ifo Center for Energy, Climate, and Resources, was appointed to the German federal government’s “Commission of Experts on Gas and Heating” at the end of September. The commission submitted her interim report “Safe Through the Winter” with recommendations on a gas price cap to the German federal commission on October 10.
Panu Poutvaara was reappointed as a member of the Expert Council on Integration and Migration (SVR).
Andreas Peichl was appointed as scientific representative by the founding commission of the data institute.
… through Media
2022, the ifo Institute was able to position itself in the topics of foreign trade, inflation and energy. According to the MediaTenor analysis commissioned by the ifo Institute, the institute also has the most scientists among the top 20 economists cited from economic research institutes.
Genderbalance: Next Steps
The “Gender Balance and Diversity” task force, formed in 2021, has continued to work on making the institute more attractive to researchers. In addition to the Executive Board and the Equal Opportunity Officer, the members of the task force are scientific and non-scientific managers, postdocs, and doctoral students. The members have devised “main playing fields” that are particularly relevant to further progress on the gender balance: the recruitment process, the public image of the institute, and leadership challenges. Initial successes in 2022 were mainly apparent in recruitment: The ifo Institute has made a pitch to researchers with a well-planned presence on the European Job Market. As a result, 276 outstanding international applicants, 105 of them female, showed an interest in the advertised postdoc roles at the ifo Institute. All posts were filled, with women accounting for 80% of the new recruits. Additionally, the proportion of female postdocs rose to 42%. The target is a ratio of 50% in 2025. The ifo also aims to reach this ratio for male and female doctoral students. There were 61 doctoral students in 2022, eleven more than in the previous year, including 29 women. Consequently, the target has practically been reached.
Personnel Development
New Members of the Administrative Council
Dr. Elga Bartsch, Head of Department I – Economic Policy – at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action is a new member of the ifo Administrative Council. The appointment of Elga Bartsch has resulted in a balanced gender ratio on the Administrative Council.
Further new members of the Administrative Council:
Dr. Wolf Heinrich Reuter, Head of Department I at the German Federal Ministry of Finance,
Thomas Westphal, Director General for Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) on the Council of the European Union.
New Members of the Board of Trustees
Dr. Elisabeth Denison, Chief People Officer, Deloitte Germany
Marion Höllinger, member of the Management Board of HypoVereinsbank – UniCredit Bank AG
Dr. Volker Meyer-Guckel, Secretary General and member of the Executive Board of Stifterverband
Prof. Armin Nassehi, Institute for Sociology at LMU Munich
New Works Council Agreement and Election of a New Ombudsperson
In line with the corresponding Leibniz code, a new Works Council agreement “on the implementation of rules of good scientific practice” has been agreed between the Executive Board and the Works Council. This agreement covers the election of the ombudsperson at the ifo Institute, who should be a figure trusted by the scientific employees at all hierarchy levels and the Executive Board. The new ifo ombudsperson is Prof. Joachim Winter from the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. He succeeds Prof. Heinrich Ursprung, who held the post until his death in 2021. Joachim Winter was elected by the academic employees in secret ballot and appointed for a five-year term.
Publikation
Highlights
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a new crisis superseded the coronavirus pandemic and defined the public debate. The impending gas and energy shortage fueled inflation, which the ifo Institute had highlighted back in 2021 in the context of the pandemic and supply bottlenecks. With our annual report 2022 we give a summary and provide an overview both of the development of the ifo Institute in the past year and of its additional research and work priorities. We have compiled a selection of the highlights from the annual report for you.
