Research

In 2011 Bruegel adopted stable research areas on subjects of significant policy relevance. In concordance with this mid-term strategy the 2012 Research Programme focuses on the following four areas in which Bruegel is building expertise and reputation:

1. European macroeconomics

In 2010 the sovereign debt crisis caught Europe by surprise. Bruegel throughout the year contributed to the search for appropriate policy responses. The policy debate however was not concluded in 2010. Topics for discussion in 2011 include the response to insolvency or near-insolvency situations; the terms and instruments of conditional assistance; the interdependence between sovereign and banking crises.

2. Global economics and governance

Global and international issues remain high on the policy agenda, in part because of the G20, but in part also because tectonic shifts within the global economy have been accelerated by the crisis. Divergence between advanced and emerging economies and its consequences for their coexistence within the global system of trade and finance raise new issues for research and policy. In 2011 research at Bruegel will concentrate on three domains: global economic, monetary and financial governance; the reform of the international monetary system; and interdependence in the new global context.

3. Finance and financial regulation

Projects for 2011 in this area build on the research developed in previous years, challenges with a major new project on global financial integration, expanded research on the economic impact of EU regulatory changes, and active participation in the ongoing debates on international accounting standard-setting and on Europe’s cross-border banks.

4. Competition, innovation and sustainable growth

As the recovery takes shape – and even if many governments are still struggling with the aftershock of the crisis, attention is more and more shifting towards the structural underpinnings of economic performance. The objective of this area is to develop stronger policy analysis based on a better understanding of firms’ behaviour. It is to understand what stimulates/hampers firms to build/sustain their long-term growth and how external factors arising from input (labour, finance, energy..) and output (market conditions, macro-economic conditions, regulation) impact the firms’ performance.

Funded research projects

In line with its annual research programmes, Bruegel runs projects which are fully or partially funded by International and European institutions, as well as by private organisations and are developed in close cooperation with some similar research institutions across the world.

Research partnerships synergies

More generally, Bruegel has developed a number of relationships with its numerous partners and adopts a flexible approach to cooperation with activities focusing on intellectual dialogue through visiting fellowship, common publications or events such as policy debates with relevant decision makers.

Bruegel has also established a unique strategic partnership with the German Marshall Fund and has also initiated a new project to develop formal partnerships with a number of research organisations. These formal partnerships are not at all exclusive from other relationships with other research organisations in the same country. Rather, the chosen partners are seen as anchors of Bruegel in their own country, which can help out with the dissemination of Bruegel activities at the national level, bringing in all interested parties, whereas in return, Bruegel is seen as their first anchor in Brussels, providing them with the access of an EU platform of informed and targeted stakeholders.

Bruegel is now searching for generous private donors to set up a fellowship programme aiming at bringing expertise to the business world on a certain economic geographic area such as Asia or Latin America or on a specific research sector and also aiming to connect the business world with the policy making community Bruegel has access to.