The search for reasons and consequences of rising inequality in labor, income, wealth and living possibilities with regard to equality of opportunity has transformed into an increasingly important field of research in social sciences in recent years. At the Vienna University of Economics and Business, this development has been an important factor in teaching as well as research; providing the ideal preconditions for founding the research institute.

The main objective of the institute is to analyze inequality in its different forms within society; our research is aimed at empirical analysis. Questions concerning inequality not only have an influence on public spending and financial resources, but on economic and societal development as a whole. Therefore, multidisciplinary research is the guiding principle, i.e. the mission statement of the research institute.

Through cooperation with national and international institutions such as WIFO, IHS, OeNB, Statistik Austria, etc. and intensified collaboration as well as special events, research clusters concerning social, economic and ecologic inequality shall be established in Austria. A particular interest in this context aims at academic and public discourse and the discussion of our research results.