VATT Institute for Economic Research

The VATT Institute for Economic Research pursues high-quality research on applied economics and acts as an expert in preparing and evaluating decision-making and economic policy.

VATT uses scientific methods and typically extensive register materials to anticipate and evaluate the impacts of different types of policy changes on the behaviour of individuals, households or companies, for instance.

Founded in 1990, VATT operates as an agency under the Ministry of Finance. VATT's annual operating expenditure is approximately EUR 5.5 million, and it receives 2/3 of its funding from the state budget, while the remaining 1/3 is competitive external research funding. VATT has approximately 55 employees, of whom 40 are researchers.

The independent Economic Policy Council, which was founded in 2014, operates in connection with VATT. The aim of the council is to improve the quality of economic policy preparations and decision-making, and introduce an impartial, research-based perspective to economic policy discussions.