Norwegian version of this page

About the Frisch Centre

Frisch Centre

The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research is an independent research institution founded by the University of Oslo and operational from 1 January 1999. The Frisch Centre conducts economic research in co-operation with the Department of Economics at the University of Oslo.

Organizational chart

Research areas

Research at the Frisch Centre covers a wide range of topics, mainly within four major areas described below. More detailed information can be found in the lists of projects and publications.

Labour market and education

Important topics are bargaining structure, institutional setting, wage formation and unemployment; education and earnings; social benefits and unemployment dynamics; and macroeconomic and labour market policy.

Environment and energy

An important topic here is international treaties on measures to reduce environmental problems, such as the greenhouse effect and acid rain. Another important topic is the impact of environmental policy on international energy markets, particularly the markets for oil, gas and electricity, which is studied both theoretically and with numerical models. The Frisch Centre was joint organiser of EAERE99, the ninth annual conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource

Public economics and productivity

In various sectors, such as the public job exchange service, transportation and telecommunications, the market for hydroelectric power, education and care for the elderly, microeconometric studies are conducted and linked to theories of incentives, regulation and industrial organisation. Also problems with financing the production of services not sold in a competitive market are studied.

Health economics

Research on this topic is related to the previous area, but is organised separately through participation in HERO the Health Economics Research Programme Oslo at the University of Oslo, in co-operation with Centre for Health Administration at the University of Oslo. Research is focused on finance and organisation, demand for health, health services and insurance, and priorities and cost-benefit analysis. More information about projects and publications can be found at the HERO homepage.

Research organisation and finance

Most projects are co-operative work involving the Frisch Centre and researchers in other domestic and foreign research institutions. The close ties with the Department of Economics reflect the policy of the Frisch Centre of linking applied and academic research. Doctoral students at the Frisch Centre are enrolled at the doctoral programme at the Department of Economics, and students are engaged part-time on specific projects to write their Master Thesis or to assist research.

Within Norway, recent projects involve faculty at the Institute for Social Research, Norwegian School of Management, Norwegian School of Business and Administration, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Statistics Norway. Abroad, recent projects involve faculty at the Centre for Operations Research and Economics at the Catholic University of Louvain, the Centre for Labour Market and Social Research at the School of Economics and Management in Århus, Kansas State University, NorthWestern University, Pennsylvania State University, UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, the University of Gothenburg, the University of Stockholm and the University of Warwick.

The research contracts are mostly with the Research Council of Norway and with government ministries and international organisations. The Frisch Centre participates in a Writing Group on the sixth assessment report for the "Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change" of the UN.

Published June 5, 2013 1:52 PM - Last modified Sep. 20, 2023 9:15 AM