The
Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) is a
think tankA think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
in
Dublin,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
. Its research focuses on Ireland's economic and social development in order to inform policy-making and societal understanding.
The institute has played a role in national debates since the 1960s, such as joining the
Economic and Monetary Union of the European UnionThe Economic and Monetary Union is an umbrella term for the group of policies aimed at converging the economies of members of the European Union in three stages so as to allow them to adopt a single currency, the euro. As such, it is largely synonymous with the eurozone.All member states of the...
, undertaking the
National Development PlanNational Development Plan is the title given by the Irish Government to a scheme of organised large-scale expenditure on national infrastructure. The period covered by the seven year plan runs from 2000 to 2006. A second National Development Plan is currently in progress and is due to run until...
, and initiating policies to combat
povertyPoverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
.
Roy C. GearyDr. Robert Charles Geary was an Irish statistician and founder of both the Central Statistics Office and the Economic and Social Research Institute. He held degrees from University College Dublin and the Sorbonne. He lectured in mathematics at University College Southampton and in applied...
was the founding director of the ESRI (1959–66). The current director is
Frances P. RuaneFrances P. Ruane is director of the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland. She succeeded Brendan Whelan in 2006, after 30 years of teaching economics at Trinity College, Dublin and Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Previously, she worked at the Industrial...
(2006-), who succeeded
Brendan WhelanBrendan J. Whelan is a research professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, on secondment to Trinity College, Dublin. He was director from 1996 to 2006, and succeeded by Frances P. Ruane...
.
History
The Economic Research Institute was founded in 1959 (and opened in 1960) by the Irish Government with funding support from the US-based
Ford FoundationThe Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
. Its original purpose was to analyse the data that was being produced by the
Central Statistics OfficeThe Central Statistics Office is the statistical agency responsible for the gathering of "information relating to economic, social and general activities and conditions" in Ireland, in particular the National Census which is held every five years. The office is answerable to the Taoiseach and has...
. In 1965, after a review by Danish social scientist Henning Friis, the remit of the organisation was expanded to include social matters, and this was reflected in a change of name to the Economic and Social Research Institute.
The early strengths of the ESRI lay in the field of
economicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, but this was later extended to
sociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
. In the 1960s and 1970s, the ESRI was instrumental in helping to build the disciplines of economics, political science and sociology in Ireland - often funding staff and students to attend overseas universities (mainly in the United States). In the late 1980s - as a reflection of the parlous state of the Irish economy at that time - the ESRI received a significant cut in state funding and since then has been involved in a considerable amount of contract research.
Fields of study
Within the field of
sociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, the ESRI has made major contributions in the fields of social mobility, income distribution, education, gender studies, labour market studies, and more recently in areas such as ageing, health, migration and sexuality.
Within the field of
economicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, the ESRI has made major contributions to the study of economic growth, monetary union, public finance, transport, and more recently in areas such as the environment, the housing market, and regulation
The ESRI has been noted for its strength in quantitative research methods, but also criticised for a lack of critical thinking and closeness to government and policy agendas. It is listed by
IDEAS/RePEcŘepeč is a village and municipality in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 267 ....
among the top 20 economic think tanks in the world, and among the world top 10 in tourism economics and intellectual property rights. The ESRI was also highly ranked in a recent assessment of economics research in Ireland.
The ESRI produces monthly surveys of consumer sentiment, employment and vacancies, and
house prices-FHFA/OFHEO:The US Federal Housing Finance Agency publishes the HPI inx, a quarterly broad measure of the movement of single-family house prices....
. Every quarter it assesses recent trends in the Irish economy and provides a short-term outlook in the
Quarterly Economic Commentary. Every two years, the ESRI produces a 20-year forecast for economic development in the
Medium-Term Review.
Criticism
In February 2010, the Institute conceded that mistakes were made in its controversial study into
waste policy.
Sources
External links