WIFO Researchers at the Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR) Winter Seminar

From 16 to 22 February 2019, the annual winter seminar of Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR) took place in Matrei in East Tyrol. Around 40 researchers presented and discussed their own current research work in the fields of economics, economic geography and spatial planning. WIFO was represented at this year's seminar by four researchers. Josef Baumgartner presented a joint paper with Martin Falk on "The impact of investment subsidies on profitability: First evidence for ski lift operators in Austria". Martin Falk also presented his paper "No hotel gains from Airbnb restraints". Peter Huber gave a lecture on "Old sins cast long shadows: The Long-term impact of the resettlement of the Sudetenland on residential mobility". Matthias Firgo acted in his role as board member of the GfR as a co-organizer of the seminar.

Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung is the German-speaking section of the European Regional Science Association (ERSA) and serves as an important platform for networking among researchers in the field of regional economics and economic geography in German-speaking countries. GfR's winter seminar traditionally focuses on researchers from Austria and Germany. For some years now, however, more and more people from other parts of Europe have taken part in the winter seminar. This year researchers from institutes in Belgium, Hungary, Sweden, and the UK also presented their work at the seminar.