Give for the future

Economics provides for the common good

Economics is much more than just euros and the maximisation of profit. The Helsinki Graduate School of Economics provides the expertise needed for everything from public procurement bidding to parental leave arrangements.
Otto Toivanen
Aalto University professor and Helsinki GSE academic director Otto Toivanen.

What do climate change, daycare and the frequencies used by teleoperators have in common? What is the common denominator between the Bank of Finland, the prime minister, corporate leadership and the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority? The answer is they all rely on economics and doctors of economics to provide information for decision-making. Finland is facing a shortage of experts in this area.

Helsinki Graduate School of Economics (Helsinki GSE) seeks to strengthen and expand Finland’s economics research and raise it to the upper echelons of the world rankings. Helsinki GSE is a graduate school and research unit founded in 2018 by Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics. ‘Since spring 2018, we have been actively raising funds, recruiting new professors, and planning teaching and research that transcends institutional borders’, reports Aalto University professor and Helsinki GSE academic director Otto Toivanen.

Helsinki GSE intends to establish 15 new professorships between 2018 and 2020. The goal is to achieve a clear increase in the number of students graduating with a master’s or doctoral degree.

Data aids understanding

With the increasing data from digitalisation, economics as a social science is touching upon an ever-expanding range of research questions. ‘Economics has an expert ability to uncover the cause-and-effect relationships hidden in immense amounts of data. With the help of our material, we create methods and approaches that support decision-making in society.’

Competencies in economics are needed over a broad spectrum that includes urban housing markets, social and healthcare reform, and preparing for auctions to sell the airwave frequencies used by teleoperators. ‘Our work is seen in decision-making in the public and private sector, for example, in the organisation of daycare and public transportation. A recent doctoral dissertation in economics dealt with the effects of parental leave on the employment of mothers.’

Economics is strongly engaged with the issues of our day. A recent Nobel laureate, William Nordhaus, examines the interactions between climate change and the economy. ‘How we move about and how we heat our homes, for example, affects the state of the climate. Economics is useful when various kinds of regulations and guidance are needed, and for forming an understanding of how markets operate.’

New professorship in urban economics

With the founding of Helsinki GSE, Finland gained its first chair in urban economics, as Aalto University associate professor Tuukka Saarimaa took up his post in autumn 2018. The professorship was funded through donations by the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen, the Finnish municipality foundation (Suomen kuntasäätiö), Keva (public-sector pensions administration) and MuniFin municipality finance. Altogether, the donations total 2.5 million euros. Saarimaa's post has a dual location, at the School of Engineering Department of Built Environment and at the School of Business Department of Economics. ‘Saarimaa's professorship will create a unique bridge between two Aalto schools and two quite dissimilar fields of learning. I hope this will be a model for future professorships.’

Urban economics will come to assist cities as they strive to develop under conflicting pressures.  Urbanisation contains a host of mutually interacting issues such as the income distribution, welfare, economic growth and the impact of housing on climate change. Bridges between disciplines are needed in order to tackle such largescale and nationwide challenges. 

By a joint 2.5 million euro donation from the Saastamoinen and Jenny and Antti Wihuri foundations, Helsinki GSE will get a new professorship in data sciences. The new professorship will be located at the Aalto University School of Business.

‘Although our name is Helsinki GSE, our efforts include contributions from the whole of Finland. It is our national responsibility to educate economics professors in Finland along a broad front to meet the demands of the private as well as the public sector.

Text: Marjukka Puolakka

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