Latest news and press releases

Recent research indicates that lowering public transport fares in the Helsinki metropolitan area reduced car use and CO2 emissions. However, the measure was expensive in terms of cost per tonne of CO2 reduced compared to other climate actions.

Teemu Lyytikäinen, a long-time chief researcher and research leader at the VATT Institute for Economic Research, has been appointed research professor. VATT’s management decided on the change of position in December 2024.

According to a recent background report by the Economic Policy Council, wages in the Helsinki travel-to-work area are significantly higher than in other parts of Finland. Work experience gained in Helsinki also leads to faster wage growth compared to other regions. The report attributes this to t...

The Government has appointed Tuulia Hakola-Uusitalo, Doctor of Social Sciences, as Director General of the VATT Institute for Economic Research (VATT) for the five-year term 2025–2029.

Only a small fraction of retail trade companies opted to pay newly hired workers under the age of 25 subminimum wages, after policy change. This finding suggests that prevailing wage norms significantly influence firms’ wage setting.

New information has been discovered about the long-term development in intelligence, or the Flynn effect. Changes in health and nutrition alone do not explain the changes in intelligence; they are also explained by changes in skills valued in the labour market at any given time, posits the doctor...

Tuulia Hakola-Uusitalo, acting Director General and Research Director of VATT, has been appointed to the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council from 5 September 2024 to 30 June 2027.

Finland is determined to invest in RDI – research, development and innovation – even in difficult economic times. What would be the most effective way to spend the growing RDI investments? This question will be answered by a number of economists from Finland and abroad at VATT Day on Thursday 19 ...

An experiment based on a new type of agreement model had a positive long-term impact on the employment, confirmed income and the amount of taxes paid by immigrants participating in the experiment. According to the interviews conducted in connection with a recent evaluation, the close contacts bet...

The Ministry of Finance has appointed Jenni Jaakkola, D.Sc. (Econ.), as Secretary General of the Finnish Economic Policy Council for the period of 1 September 2024 – 31 December 2025. During Jaakkola’s term, the Council’s role and division of labour with other actors will be examined further.

Since the early 2000s, the value of being extrovert has increased in the labour market. "Conscientiousness and education are still valued, but there is also new emphasis being placed on extroversion including sociability, activity and energy," says Ramin Izadi, a Senior Researcher at VATT Institu...

The Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES) brought together leading economists in the field of tax and income transfer systems to Helsinki on June 12-14, 2024.

Following a tax audit, firms immediately report more taxable profit, and the reported profits also remain higher for at least five years after the audit. These changes in firms’ reporting behaviour explain one third of the tax revenue generated by tax audits.

The Director General of National Institute for Economic Research VATT is changing. Mikael Collan, who has led the institute since 2021, is returning to LUT University as Professor of Strategic Finance in August. The five-year term of Director General of VATT will be opened for application at a la...

The Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar TAPES will be held in Helsinki, Finland on June 12-14 2024.