Why should I choose Economics as a major at WU Vienna?

As a society, we face enormous global challenges in the coming decades:

• Digital transformation: On the one hand, it promises productivity gains and economic growth, but on the other, it raises the question of how working life will change as a result and whether people will still be able to find a secure job with a sufficient income in twenty years' time.

• Demographic change: It is a major challenge for social insurance and the pension system. Many young people are wondering whether they will still receive a sufficient pension in old age and how long they will have to work.

• Climate Crisis: It threatens people's livelihoods and leads to an increased likelihood of disasters such as droughts, floods and heatwaves worldwide. Its full impact will be felt by today's young people in particular.

Central challenges in the economy and society almost always have an economic core. The study of economics provides a coherent set of tools to help solve these problems.

For example, economics deals with different ways of financing social security and pension systems when demographic change means that fewer and fewer workers are available and when more and more activities are taken over by industrial robots, 3D printers and other automation technologies. Economics also deals with the question of how CO2 emissions can be taxed in such a way that, on the one hand, there is a strong reduction in pollution, but on the other hand, no social distortions arise.

The Economics major enables you to apply the latest methods and provides you with the relevant background knowledge to be able to answer the above questions and many other economic policy issues in a scientific and evidence-based manner.

What do students learn when studying economics?

Students are taught a coherent, modern and future-oriented set of tools - both methodological and empirical - which enable them to work on and answer the major questions of economics independently. In the specialization areas, students' methodological skills are expanded and applied to specific issues.

A key advantage of our course structure is that the methods learned can be applied quickly and directly to ever new challenges, for example in the past to questions relating to the economic and financial crisis, or more recently, to questions relating to energy price increases and inflationary pressure, to questions relating to the economic impact of COVID-19; or also to the question of whether a robot tax can be useful in the age of automation and digitalization. Department members have published significant work on these topics in leading international economics journals.

What do the Nobel Prize and the subject of economics have in common?

The breadth of the subject of economics is particularly evident in the numerous research areas of the Nobel Prize winners in the field of “Economic Sciences”. For example, you can find the press release on the Economic Sciences Nobel Laureates from 2022 here and a summary here.

Below you will find an overview of the research areas of all Nobel Laureates since 2006:

The Department of Economics also covers a broad spectrum of research: Here you will find a list of research topics at the Department of Economics, sorted by research area.

The faculty is also very international: our researchers come from countries including Albania, Argentina, China, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Persia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary and the USA.

What are possible job profiles or prospects for graduates of the Economics major?

Our graduates have a sound education in the entire spectrum of economics and demonstrate a high level of methodological competence. This results in good chances of finding an attractive job after graduation as well as being accepted into internationally highly regarded Master's programs. Economics graduates typically find work in economic research institutes, central banks (e.g. Oesterreichische Nationalbank, European Central Bank), international organizations (development banks, UN organizations, etc.), public administration (ministries, federal institutions such as Statistics Austria, Federal Environment Agency, etc.), EU institutions (such as the European Commission), national and international interest groups (e.g. Chamber of Labour, Chamber of Commerce, International Trade Union Confederation); in academic research at universities after a postgraduate Master's program; or in various departments of banks, insurance companies, consulting firms and large companies.