We are happy to introduce our new department, the PLUS Department of Economics, which was established in January 2022 following an organizational reform at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg.

What is the impact of tax changes on employment, business investment or international profit shifting activities of firms? What is the role of social security and welfare transfers on labor market outcomes, pension decisions or organization of care? Is the recent increase in inflation permanent or transitory? What happens with mortgage rates  if the European Central Bank increases its policy rate? What are the costs and benefits of health measures to circumvent a pandemic? These and many more questions affect households, firms and the society as a whole and are at the core of the research activities of the new PLUS Department of Economics.

Research in the department covers different fields of economics. Department members are active in applied topics such as public economics, health and labor economics, behavioral economics and macroeconomics.  Their research provides important insights for the design of appropriate economic policies and contributes substantially to our understanding on how economic mechanisms work in practice and impact society.

“Big data” methodological know-how

The increase in the availability of large and unstructured datasets calls for rigorous empirical techniques to adequately answer applied research questions. Another key focus of the new department is the development and application of cutting-edge empirical methods to analyze research questions to effectively guide policy making in governmental institutions and central banks.

The excellence in research is evidenced by numerous publications in international top journals,  research funding by leading research foundations and agencies, and top placements in rankings such as the one compiled by the University of Connecticut and provided by IDEAS/RePec or the Handelsblatt Ranking. Researchers at the PLUS Department of Economics are regularly advising international policy institutions such as the European Commission, the European Central Bank as well as national entities such as the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) or the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.

The department’s teaching philosophy

Apart from research, the department’s teaching philosophy revolves around using insights from the research frontier to provide students with state-of-the-art knowledge and prepare them for successful careers in academia, business and governmental institutions. Doctoral students at the department are embedded in international networks early on and profit from cooperations with researchers from all over the world. PhD students are encouraged to spend time at leading research institutions abroad and present their work at the leading conferences of the discipline.