Department of Economics (ECO)
Department of Economics (ECO)
Economics is way too important to be left to economists! Economics issues concern many things that we know from everyday life, e.g.:
- Consumers' choices in the shops
- Companies' conduct on the markets
- Workers' decisions on where and how much to work
- Currency markets' reactions to changes in interest rates
- The effect of globalisation on business
- Government's determination of economic policy
- Citizens' voting behaviour.
These things interact in exciting ways and are discussed daily in television, in newspapers, in boardrooms, in ministries, in political parties and at the hair dresser's!
Research at the Department of Economics aims at discussing enterprises from a social point of view and society regarded as the scope for action of private enterprises and other organisations. The focus is on the interaction between business and society.
Highlights of 2004
Internationalisation
- The Department researchers collaborate with a large number of international researchers and are often invited to research institutions in other countries. Thus, one of the Department researchers visited the University of California, San Diego, for an extended period. At the same time, the Department invites international researchers, often in connection with a research seminar. In 2004, the Department had visitors from Amsterdam, Bergen, Berlin, Boston (Harvard), Dallas, Geneva, Pisa, Stockholm, Vancouver and York and from international organisations such as ILO and OECD. The three most recently appointed researchers have an international research and teaching background
- The Department organised several international conferences in 2004, e.g. the Two-day NOITS (Nordic International Trade Seminars) conference in May, which was attended by respected American and Nordic researchers. Furthermore, the Department co-organised an international conference on the globalisation effect on the labour market and welfare with prominent researchers from Stanford University, among others. Finally, the Department co-organised a conference in the DEGIT series (Dynamics, Economic Growth and International Trade) in Reykjavik. Again, the topics included globalisation.
Partnership with the business community
- Together with the Center for Law, Economics and Financial Institutions (LEFIC) at CBS, the Department arranged a conference in April on "Milk and Competition", where a number of business leaders, politicians and researchers had the opportunity to discuss, whether Arla Foods had been treated correctly by the Danish competition authorities. The conference was well-attended and received a good deal of press coverage
- The Department researchers have a broad dialogue with the business community, for example, contributing lectures and discussion papers on "Globalisation – a challenge to economic policy" at the executive conference of the Danish Bankers' Association and on a new competition bill with the Danish Parliament Committee on Trade and Industry.
The learning university
- The Department plays a relatively major role in the design of the new undergraduate study programme, BSc. in International Business and Politics, enabling Department researchers to teach complementary disciplines in relation to the other programmes, in which the Department is involved. The new programme will give the Department the opportunity to apply its considerable competences in political economy, lobbyism and "non-market company behaviour" more directly than before
- Applied Economics and Finance still has a stable "customer base", even after the introduction of a new English-language finance programme. Several Department researchers teach subjects at Applied Economics and Finance (AEF) that are immediate extensions of their research. There are more than 170 graduates and an active association of alumni, the AEF Association, which held its first annual gala function at CBS in February 2004.
Academic profile
The Department of Economics has a staff of 18 researchers. We conduct research in applied economics and economic theory. The aim of our research is to create knowledge about the interaction between society, markets and business. We do this by publishing in international and domestic journals, by participating in research networks, by educating new researchers (PhDs), by entering into a fruitful dialogue with business and government, and by teaching. Our research includes ‘classical economics' that analyses, how consumers, corporations and governments interact and constitute 'society'. Nevertheless, a great deal of the research takes concrete business problems as its point of departure.
Our core areas are:
(1) Macroeconomics and economic policy
(2) Applied microeconomics.
The difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics primarily lies in the perspective on economics: Macroeconomics focuses on the grand picture of the economy and the interplay between aggregate markets. Microeconomics starts out by analysing individual decision-making by consumers, enterprises, institutions and governments. It is important to understand microeconomics in order to analyse macroeconomics, so there is a gradual transition between the core areas, and some researchers operate under both.
In the area of macroeconomics and economic policy, the Department's research is mainly concerned with issues of public economy, international economy and labour market theory, macro finance, empirical macro theory and growth theory. Macroeconomics research is of socioeconomic relevance and also important to enterprises in general. In the area of applied microeconomics, research focuses on topics of industrial economics, public and international economics and corporate governance. It is application-oriented and often has a clear corporate perspective.
Research strategy
The Department of Economics (ECO) has a constructive dialogue on economics topics with all interested parties. With its activities, the Department aims to discuss enterprises from a social point of view and society regarded as the scope for action of private enterprises and other organisations. The Department increasingly focuses on research topics of clear corporate relevance, but it also prioritises research in topics of a more socioeconomic nature. The Department's research activities are firmly anchored in economic theory.
Research results
The Department has never had a greater rate of publication than in 2004. The result was a total of 74 publications against an average of 56 publications in the previous four years. There has been a marked increase in the number of articles in foreign-language journals, which is highly satisfactory. Department researchers published articles in the following international journals: Baltic Journal of Economics, Canadian Journal of Economics, Economics and Politics, Economics Letters, European Competition Law Review, European Finance Review, European Journal of Law and Economics, International Tax and Public Finance, Journal of Economics, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Public Economic Theory, Labour and Review of International Economics.
The results reflect that after several years of understaffing, the Department now has a full staff. The research results illustrated below show that the Department has achieved a reasonable outcome in terms of publication in international journals. The high number of working papers holds out every promise of good results in the years to come.
Research relations to practice
The Department's research is applied in practice, not only by the business community, for which several members of the Department staff act as consultants, experts and board members, but also by various public authorities, where the staff are members of councils and commissions, for example the Competition Council, the Ministry of Taxation, Udliciteringsrådet (the Danish board for promoting contracting welfare services to the private sector) and the Danish Economic Council presidency. By way of example, the Department's research in the area of tax policy turned out to be useful in connection with the preparation of a report on direct and indirect taxes in Greenland, which is a source of inspiration for the Greenland government's revision of direct and indirect taxes.
Last updated by Tine Bächler Poulsen 28/11/2008
