03.12.2024

Back on Track for Growth with Basic Research

Recent Study for FWF and Opinion Piece in the Daily Newspaper Kurier

A recent study by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS), and the Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH (Joanneum Research) has shown that federal investments in basic research through the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) result in stimulating effects for the economy and society faster and more extensively than previously assumed. Study author Jürgen Janger and WIFO director Gabriel Felbermayr have also written an op-ed in the daily newspaper "Kurier" about the issue.

On 29 November 2024, Janger and Felbermayr argued in the daily newspaper "Kurier" that an Austrian government should focus more on promoting science.

"Surprisingly, we found that FWF-funded research projects pay off economically in the short term and are a driver of structural change in Austria," says study coordinator Jürgen Janger (WIFO).

"Funding the FWF generates a double dividend. It provides short-term stimulus for the economy while also laying the foundations for a long-term acceleration in structural growth," says WIFO Director Gabriel Felbermayr.