News & Opinions

Winter forecast for Eastern Europe: Solid growth despite uncertainties - 04 Feb 2026

Structural change in Central and Eastern Europe is in full swing, while Trump, budget deficits and a dictated peace in Ukraine pose risks; Ukraine faces a difficult future, whereas Russia’s economy is stagnating read more

Osteuropa ist Österreichs wichtigster Handelspartner und bringt kräftige Wachstumsimpulse - 04 Feb 2026

Zusammengenommen werden die 23 Staaten in Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropa 2026 den größten Beitrag zum österreichischen BIP-Wachstum unter allen Handelspartnern leisten. Damit ist die Region wichtiger als Deutschland, die USA oder China read more

New Podcast - CEE Outlook 2026: Making Decisions Amid Uncertainty - 03 Feb 2026

In the latest episode of the CEE Exchange podcast, part of wiiw’s Executive Network, Executive Director Mario Holzner and Deputy Director Richard Grieveson discuss the geopolitical and economic outlook for Central and Eastern Europe in 2026 read more

Paper on international investment linkages published in Journal of Comparative Economics - 30 Jan 2026

New research by Konstantin Wacker sheds light on how foreign direct investment by multinational firms translates into domestic investment. The financial system seems to be the critical link read more

Ukrainian refugees – from emergency to long-term strategy - 23 Jan 2026

Nearly four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe needs to replace temporary arrangements with sustainable, long-term strategies that work for both refugees and host countries read more

Neuer Podcast: Vasily Astrov über die Aussichten der russischen Wirtschaft 2026 - 16 Jan 2026

Unter dem Titel „Bringt Putin im Jahr 2026 Russlands Wirtschaft endgültig um?“ diskutiert unser Russland-Experte Vasily Astrov mit Eduard Steiner von der Tageszeitung „Die Presse“ und dem Energie-Experten Johannes Benigni read more

A dictated peace would be a disaster for Ukraine and Central Eastern Europe - 15 Jan 2026

Without credible security guarantees, Ukraine is likely to become a vassal state of Moscow and will continue to get poorer. The EU members of the region would face economic decline and protracted conflict with Russia read more

What would an accelerated EU enlargement mean and how feasible is it? - 13 Jan 2026

EU enlargement is back on the agenda. This time, however, amid growing geopolitical pressures, the EU is exploring ways to speed up the process. But what is realistically achievable? A high-ranking panel with oiip addressed this question read more

Global Economy Lecture: Silvana Tenreyro on potential responses to economic shocks and the role of negative interest rates - 02 Dec 2025

Negative interest rates can help when there are demand shocks, but they are ineffective during supply shocks. To mitigate the risks associated with future supply stocks, there needs to be technological and trade diversification as well as the creation of resource buffers read more

Freihandel mit der Türkei brächte Vorteile für Österreich und die EU - 26 Nov 2025

Vertiefte Zollunion zwischen EU und Türkei als Win-win-Situation; große Chancen für Österreich, vor allem bei Maschinen und Fahrzeugen; Verhandlungen als Hebel gegenüber Ankara read more

Early EU accession: The economic reforms that Ukraine and the other candidate countries would need to implement - 17 Nov 2025

For rapid EU enlargement to succeed, clear priorities for economic reform are needed to address the biggest problems facing the candidate countries. The case studies of Ukraine, Serbia and Montenegro illustrate this point. read more

Autumn Forecast: Eastern Europe with robust, but slower growth - 22 Oct 2025

The economic model of CEE is changing, while rising defence spending will stimulate growth in the region. Ukraine's economy is stuck in war, whereas Russia is headed for stagnation read more

Recent Publications

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Monthly Report No. 1/2026

wiiw Monthly Reports read more

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Digitalisation of jobs and gender-age segregation in digital tasks: Cross-country evidence based on ESJS2 data

wiiw Working Papers read more

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Monthly Report No. 12/2025

wiiw Monthly Reports read more

Projects in Focus

Demographic and economic development in Central and East European countries (CEECs)

Client: City of Vienna
Duration: September 2021 - June 2022 read more

Export diversification strategy for Venezuela

Client: United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
Duration: October 2023 - December 2024 read more

New EU own resources: possibilities and limitations of steering effects and sectoral policy co-benefits

Client: European Parliament
Duration: March 2021 - August 2021 read more

Nearshoring and decarbonisation in the Western Balkans

Client: DIHK - Deutscher Industrie- und Handelskammertag
Duration: January 2024 - September 2024 read more

Labour market effects of Austrian foreign trade

Client: Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy
Duration: November 2023 - September 2024 read more

Advice on intra-EU mobility and social security coordination (Lot 2: Statistics and data collection)

Client: European Commission, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
Duration: December 2021 - November 2025 read more

Impact Evaluation of the Interreg Central Europe Programme

Client: Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE
Duration: September 2020 - March 2023 read more

Long-term impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on labour market integration of refugees (FIMAS reCOV)

Client: International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD)
Duration: March 2023 - December 2023 read more

Where are the growth potentials? The sectors that can boost convergence in CESEE

Client: Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB)
Duration: June 2023 - November 2023 read more

Demographics of the Austrian foreign trade structure

Client: Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy
Duration: October 2022 - April 2023 read more

Leveraging reconstruction and EU accession for regional development

Client: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
Duration: July 2025 - March 2026 read more

The political economy of debt sustainability analysis

Client: Dezernat Zukunft
Duration: July 2024 - August 2026 read more

Impact Evaluation of the Interreg Rhin Supérieur / Oberrhein Programme

Client: Interreg Rhin Supérieur
Duration: September 2021 - December 2022 read more

Evaluation of the 2021-2027 Interreg Rhin Supérieur / Oberrhein Programme implementation

Client: Interreg Rhin Supérieur
Duration: October 2024 - November 2025 read more

What are the economic and institutional must haves for candidate countries to make an accelerated enlargement possible?

Client: European Commission, DG Economic and Financial Affairs
Duration: October 2024 - June 2025 read more


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