ZEW Annual Report Published - ZEW Assures Its Position as One of the Leading European Economic Research Institutes

In times of the global financial and economic crisis, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim continued to have stable profits in the business year 2009. The Annual Report 2009 indicates that the Institute’s profits have declined slightly to 15.09 million euro. However, external funds still account for 40 percent of ZEW’s financial resources, the same percentage as in the previous year.

In the financial year 2009, ZEW’s external funds accounted for 5.82 million euro. "2009 was a good year for ZEW. We have been successful in national and international competition for external funds for economic research and advisory projects, thus assuring our position as one of the leading research institutes in Germany and Europe," says ZEW President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang Franz.

In 2009, ZEW was often successful in project tendering by German federal and state ministries as well as foreign ministries. They accounted for 45 percent of external funds. "This indicates that political advisory work in addition to research work is important at ZEW and that our clients appreciate our staff’s academic expertise," says Wolfgang Franz. Other important clients include companies and associations (22 percent), the European Commission and the German Research Foundation (13 percent respectively) as well as other foundations (7 percent). In 2009, a total of 117 projects were conducted for national and international clients.

ZEW researchers published various articles in renowned economic journals in 2009, thus proving the high quality of research at ZEW. Moreover, ten dissertations and two habilitations contributed to ZEW’s success record. "We also increased the number of staff by 36 new employees. At the end of 2009, 181 employees were working at ZEW, two thirds of them conducting research work," explains Thomas Kohl, director of business and administration.

Being involved in the national and international scientific community is essential to conduct leading research. In the previous year, ZEW extended its network by various research networks and cooperation with universities and non-academic research institutions, in particular in China and the USA. ZEW and the Wang Yanan Institute for Studies in Economics (WISE) at the Chinese Xiamen University intensified their cooperation by co-hosting the labour economics symposium LABOR 2009 in Xiamen. In 2009, more than 250 foreign visiting researchers conducted research at ZEW. Furthermore, ZEW appointed two junior professors in cooperation with Heidelberg University and WHU- Otto Beisheim School of Management.

In addition to economic research and competent political advisory work, knowledge transfer plays an important role at ZEW. In 2009, ZEW achieved success in this field. For example, ZEW researchers imparted their knowledge on Macroeconomics, the functionality and stability of the international financial system, international trade and capital networks as well as development strategies of transition countries to Chinese and Vietnamese staff of central banks and ministries of finance.

For further information please contact

Thomas Kohl, Phone: +49 (0)621/1235-111, E-mail: kohl@zew.de