Institute for World Economics of the HAS

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Magyar

Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

H-1014 Budapest, Országház u 30., Hungary
PO Box 936, H-1535 Budapest, Hungary
+ 36 1 224 6700
+ 36 1 224 6765
e-mail: vki@vki.hu
www.vki.hu

GENERAL ACTIVITIES

The Institute for World Economics (IWE) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences has operated in its present form since 1973. Its predecessor, the Afro-Asian Research Centre, was founded in 1965.
The IWE conducts independent theoretical and applied research in response to global and regional challenges, problems and trends that call for changes in international cooperation and domestic policy.
A strategic, interdisciplinary future-oriented approach is taken to the research, drawing on a network of cooperation partners at home and abroad. Great importance is attached to publicizing the findings widely.
IWE research teams also produce policy-oriented studies under contract.
Research and analysis of this kind are produced for Hungarian policymakers, the business sector and international organizations.

The main areas of research

1) Global political, social and economic transformation in the 21st century and its implications for the European region, Hungary and Russia

The IWE studies the global economy with a particular eye to the future engines of change, the main driving forces of innovation and technological change, environmental issues, the energy sector and the evolving power structure in the global political system.
The latest researches extend to multilateral cooperation in global governance and to the main sources of inequality and social change. One special area of research is the strategies of the multinational corporations and competition among them in Europe and the world economy. Increasing attention is being focused on studying the global energy sector and the developments in European energy policy.

2) The European Union and European integration

The IWE has been following developments in European integration for 30 years through international and domestic research projects, from the European Economic Community and up to the European Union of today.
The result is a body of expertise on the main reform issues of widening and deepening the EU and on the opportunities and challenges that Hungary faces as an EU member.
Likewise central to the IWE research objectives is analysis of Europe's role and importance in global processes. There are several research projects directed at future prospects for the EU, notably the continuing development of political union, adjustments to globalization, the trends towards renationalization, multi-speed processes of integration, the competitiveness of Europe, and the potential evolution of common social values.

3) Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe: economic transition and adjustment

Prominent research topics in recent years have included the socio-economic transformation of the Central, South-Eastern and East European countries, conditions for sustainable growth, strategies and methods of catching up, and the causes and effects of unsuccessful modernization. The research experience gained over almost 20 years offers a fruitful terrain for reviewing
and re-evaluating the features of this transformation.
Increasing attention is being paid to the behaviour of new member-states as they integrate into the EU and to their relations with each other. Research has focused recently on Bulgaria and Romania as new member-states, and on the West Balkan countries, Croatia and Ukraine, as neighbouring countries that are improving their political and economic relations with Hungary and the EU. The work in these areas is facilitated by the IWE's professional relations with other research institutes in the region and by the opportunities for cooperation that have arisen over the last 30 years of active research and cooperation.

4) Key issues of economic development

Development studies and development theory have traditionally been an important field for the IWE. They cover the major macroeconomic issues faced by developing countries face, such as adjustment to the world economy, structural transformation, regional cooperation, debt crises, population explosions, the world agricultural system and its products, food problems, and the oil question. There is also long-term research into the role and function of international policies and organizations: world trade and the WTO, agricultural policies, reform and the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
Complementing that is research into specific countries and regions and topics of special interest, including key economic and social issues in the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia. The research into the development and catching-up processes (from an international or a domestic perspective) extends to fundamental topics such as competitiveness, R & D, innovation, and the economic challenges of a knowledge society. Special heed is paid to urban and regional development, global environmental issues, and several economic and social aspects of sustainable development.

5) Asian countries

A special regional focus is given to three Asian countries - China, Japan, and India - in line with their increasing economic importance. Their main features and long-term development are monitored by an IWE research team of five.
With China, the research focus is on its role in the world economy, its relationship with the EU, and the main economic and social aspects of its transformation process. The economic prospects of Japan, India and some countries in Central Asia are also the object of long-term research. The IWE conducts both macro and micro-level studies, including responses to globalization, analysis of modernization strategies, and regional business relations and management methods.

Management and staff

The management of the Institute
Director: András Inotai, Doctor of Economic Sciences
Deputy director for scientific activity: Tamás Szemlér, Ph.D., senior research fellow
Senior adviser: Mihály Simai, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, research professor
Managing director: Eva Nagy
Head of finance: Erzsébet Marosi
Consultant: András Hernádi, Ph.D.

Research directors
Judit Kiss, Ph.D., university professor, Doctor of Economic Sciences, senior research fellow (Development Research Centre)
Tamás Novák, Ph.D., senior research fellow (Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe Research Centre)
Margit Rácz, Ph.D., Candidate of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, senior research fellow (European Integration Research Centre)

Senior research fellows (holding Ph.D. degrees):
Annamária Artner, Kálmán Dezséri, Andrea Éltető, Péter Farkas, Tamás Fleischer, Klára Fóti, Judit Kiss, István Kőrösi, Zsuzsa Ludvig, Tamás Novák, Margit Rácz, Miklós Somai, Andrea Szalavetz, Miklós Szanyi, András Székely-Doby, Tamás Szemlér, Tamás Szigetvári, Krisztina Vida.

Research fellows
Gábor Fóti, Sándor Meisel, Gábor Túry, Csaba Weiner, Anna Wisniewski.

Research assistants
Balázs Lengyel, Gábor Monoki, Judit Szilágyi, Katalin Völgyi.

Staff
The 47 full-time staff consist of 30 researchers and 17 administrative and library employees, who cover the library, publications, and editing and conference organization.

Further information appears in English and Hungarian on the www.vki.hu website and in detailed annual reports.