News

A Year's Worth of Great IDEAs

27 May, 2021

IDEA, the think-tank of the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences focusing on policy-relevant research and recommendations, just published its annual Book of Abstracts.

The publication provides English summaries of the studies and interactive web tools produced by IDEA over the past twelve months. Focusing on topics of high societal importance in which the private sector has weak influence, such as retirement & ageing, taxes & benefits, employment & education, welfare & poverty, and R&D&I, IDEA published an impressive 33 studies (incl. 23 IDEA anti COVID-19 studies) between May 2020 and 2021 with important implications for public policies. It also developed 5 interactive web tools providing unique insights into domestic and international research performance, which also highlight the research excellence of CERGE-EI.

The past year was marked by the covid-19 pandemic. Right at its onset in March 2020, IDEA launched the IDEA anti COVID-19 project to help society and minimize losses. The project has produced numerous empirical and policy studies and couple of solo policy recommendations. The proceedings have received significant coverage in the Czech media and have had notable impact on public discourse. Many CERGE-EI faculty members, students, and alumni have been actively involved, along with scientists from other institutions and other fields of science. Several members of the IDEA anti COVID-19 group have served on advisory boards.