Call is closed.
 

Preamble

The new programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) financed by the Fonds Zukunft Österreich (Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung) serves to promote data‐based research (microdata research) in Austria. In 2022, research on register data was made possible by legal provisions and the establishment of the Austrian Micro Data Centre (AMDC) at Statistics Austria. The funding programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims to be a driving force for data-driven research in Austria. Funding is provided for projects at academic institutions in Austria that open up existing AMDC data sets or comparable official statistical administrative data (registers, panels, surveys etc., ASEP), possibly supported by existing research data (AUSSDA), for extended empirical-quantitative applications and questions in the field of social science research. Promotion of young scientists is of great importance to the Austrian Academy of Sciences as part of the funding programme.

Objectives of the programme

The new programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) financed by the Fonds Zukunft Österreich (Nationalstiftung für Forschung, Technologie und Entwicklung) serves to promote data‐based research (microdata research) in Austria. In 2022, research on register data was made possible by legal provisions and the establishment of the Austrian Micro Data Centre (AMDC) at Statistics Austria. The funding programme of the Austrian Academy of Sciences aims to be a driving force for data-driven research in Austria. Funding is provided for projects at academic institutions in Austria that open up existing AMDC data sets or comparable official statistical administrative data (registers, panels, surveys etc., ASEP), possibly supported by existing research data (AUSSDA), for extended empirical-quantitative applications and questions in the field of social science research. Promotion of young scientists is of great importance to the Austrian Academy of Sciences as part of the funding programme.

Target group

The funding programme addresses researchers in all disciplines in Austria who develop empirical‐quantitative applications and questions in the field of socio‐scientific research.

Projects may be applied for individually or as groups of up to three researchers from different disciplines. Submission of an application as a group allows data sets to be analysed from different perspectives or different data sets to be processed together. The aim is to take into account the interdisciplinary potential of data‐based research and to enshrine the corresponding approaches in scientific practice. The programme especially addresses young scientists who want to make use

Application requirements

• Submission individually or as a group of up to three scientists.
• In the case of a group application the applicants will jointly constitute the project management (principal investigators). One of the applicants is the principal investigator, all others are co-principal investigators.
• Each applicant may only take part in one application.
• The applicants must be prepared to pro‐actively contribute to the public presentation of the programme and attend associated events.
• The project must be carried out at an academic institution in Austria; however, cooperations with other institutions in Austria and abroad may be established.
• If AMDC data are used, the academic institution at which the project is to be carried out must be accredited at the AMDC by the time the full application is submitted, at the latest.
• Upon submission of the application applicants must present approval from the academic institution at which the project is intended to be carried out (declaration of consent). In the case of a change in the course of the process approval from the new academic institution must be evidenced by presentation of a declaration of consent.
• An institution may support multiple applications.

Funding term

Maximum of 2 years

Amount of grant

The budget for each of the projects is between a minimum of EUR 150,000 and a maximum of EUR 350,000. The total funding available is EUR 3.0 million.

The grant is intended to cover overheads of 10% of the direct project costs. The following direct costs may be applied for:

• Staff costs
• Costs for obtaining/maintaining access to available data. Financing the collection of additional, new data is only permitted to a small extent.
• Costs of consumables
• Travel expenses
• Other expenses (e.g. costs of research infrastructure or equipment, software, contracting of external services)

Procedure

The budget for each of the projects is between a minimum of EUR 150,000 and a maximum of EUR 350,000. The total funding available is EUR 3.0 million.

The grant is intended to cover overheads of 10% of the direct project costs. The following direct costs may be applied for:

‐      Staff costs
‐      Costs for obtaining/maintaining access to available data. Financing the collection of additional, new data is only permitted to a small extent.
‐      Costs of consumables
‐      Travel expenses
‐      Other expenses (e.g. costs of research infrastructure or equipment, software, contracting of external services)

Application step 1:

• The coordinator must submit the following to the Department of Research Funding ‐ National and International Programmes by email to programmmanagement(at)oeaw.ac.at by 30 April 2025:

• ʺShort Proposalʺ application form, completed in full (for a template please see the application documents);
• Documents of the applicants consisting of an informative CV, list of publications, signed declaration of consent from the academic institution (for a template please see the application documents), = 1 file for each applicant;

• All submissions which meet the necessary formal application requirements (see application requirements) will be presented to an independent international jury. For the purposes of the objectives of the programme and based on scientific excellence and originality of the research project the jury will invite selected project managers to submit full applications by the end of June 2025. No expert opinions will be obtained in that stage. Unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the rejection immediately.

• At the beginning of stage 1, the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the AMDC will organise an information webinar in German and an information webinar in English, in which questions about the application process can be discussed. Participation is optional and recommended for potential applicants.

• Receipt of the documents will be confirmed by e-mail.

Webinars

Webinar (in German) –Wednesday, 19^th March 2025, 2-3 pm, Zoom-Link
Webinar (in English) – Wednesday, 26^th March 2025, 2-3 pm, Zoom-Link

Application step 2 (only upon invitation):

• The expected deadline for submission of the full proposal is 30 September 2025.
• The full proposal mainly consists of detailed specifications of the project in terms of subject, methodology, technology and project organisation (work and budget planning). The full proposal must be consistent with the short proposal. The Department of Research Funding ‐ National and International Programmes must be notified of changes, if any. Changes concerning the applicants or the academic institutions carrying out the project must fulfil the requirements for submission of an application.
• External expert opinions will be obtained for all full proposals.
• For project applications that aim to use AMDC data, a technical and rough cost estimate must be obtained from the AMDC as soon as possible during stage 2 and attached to the full proposal. The estimate provides information on the basic technical feasibility of the data services requested by the AMDC and the costs likely to be incurred.
• The award decision of the independent international jury is expected to be announced by          December 2025. Applicants will be informed of the outcome.

Data protection and rules of good scientific practice

By taking part in this call for proposals the applicants acknowledge that the related data and documents will be forwarded to the members of the jury and to experts. The data and documents will be forwarded for the purpose of evaluation of the application and decision‐making with regard to the award of grants (see also the Data Protection Information of ÖAW).

The ÖAW abides by the Guidelines of Good Scientific Practice of the Austrian Agency for Research Integrity (ÖAWI). All applications will be checked for plagiarism using Similarity (Turnitin). Violations of the rules of good scientific practice will result in immediate exclusion of the application.

Funding modalities (excerpt)

• The selected projects must start not later than 6 months after transmission of the grant letter and will have a maximum project term of 24 months. A funding agreement will be concluded with the principal investigators. Provided that no extra costs arise, the project term may be extended by up to 6 months if well‐founded reasons are given.
• The project progress and the use of funds must be reported once a year. The programme management must immediately be informed of any changes to the project plan. Changes which have not been reported may result in discontinuation of the project. The programme management will decide at their discretion whether to accept changes or to have them evaluated externally or, if necessary, to reject them.
• After completion a comprehensive final project report must be submitted, which will then undergo evaluation. The project shall be deemed completed only after successful evaluation of the project results.

Application documents

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Short proposal form

Signature form

Contact

Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)
Department of Research Funding ‐ National and International Programmes
Dr. Alexander Nagler
E-Mail: programmmanagement(at)oeaw.ac.at
Phone: +43-1-515-81-1272; -1270

In the second round of calls for proposals in 2024, the following eight projects were selected for funding:

DATA_2024-04_P-AT-H-CAREWORK “Pathways in and out of healthcare jobs: Individual and contextual factors of healthcare worker supply in Austria”

Principal investigators: Zuzanna Brzozowska (Austrian National Public Health Institute – GÖG), Stephanie Lackner (Austrian National Public Health Institute – GÖG)

Grant: 319,690.94 €

Abstract: The shortage of nursing and care workers (NCWs) is one of the major challenges faced by ageing societies today. It is estimated that Austria will need more than 43,000 new nursing personnel by 2030 compared to 2023. Because of relatively low salaries and tough working conditions healthcare providers find it difficult not only to recruit enough nursing and care workers but also to retain them.

The project P-AT-H-CAREWORK aims to provide scientific evidence that will help policymakers create effective measures to recruit and retain nursing and care workers in Austria. We will answer four broad questions which, when taken together, determine the individual and contextual factors, affecting the supply of nursing and care workers in Austria:

(1a) What is the spatial variation and annual fluctuation of NCW supply in Austria? – Here we will show how many nursing and care workers there are in different regions in Austria and how many come and go.

(1b) How do contextual factors explain the NCW supply? – We will analyse how the numbers from (1a) depend on the regional characteristics.

(2) What are the typical pathways into nursing and care jobs and which individual and contextual factors modify them? – We will describe which socio-demographic and economic groups are most likely to enter a nursing and care job in different regions (contexts).

(3) Which individual and contextual factors affect the exit from nursing and care jobs? – Here we will analyse the factors that make nursing and care workers more likely to reduce their employment or to leave their jobs altogether.  

To answer these questions, we use pseudonymised individual-level data from two different sources: the Austrian Health Care Profession Registry (German: Gesundheitsberuferegister, GBR) and the Austrian Microdata Center (AMDC) administrative records on socio-demographics, employment histories, and income. We link these data and combine them with local statistics at NUTS-3 or district level. The local statistics provide information about the context, in which the nursing and care workers live and work, such as population age and sex structure, unemployment rate, childcare coverage, average wage, or country border proximity.

The project will be the first to provide such a broad and yet detailed account of nursing personnel working in Austria. This is made possible by the new micro-level registry data and administrative records. No survey data can provide such rich information of similar high quality. At the same time, the data used does not allow any personal identification of individuals.

DATA_2024-05_CoPLAN “Couples’ transition to parenthood and labour market outcomes: Analysing gender inequalities and career interactions in Austria”

Principal investigators: Maryna Tverdostup (Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

Grant: 190,795.00 €

Abstract: In recent decades, women have made significant and well-documented progress in their economic status. However, there are still gender differences in career development and wages, which are largely due to parenthood. Men and women have different family roles and responsibilities in a family, and the transition to parenthood further deepens this gender gap within the family. Consequently, for women, marriage and children are a commitment that limits their career advancement, while for men they represent more of an advantage in terms of career and salary.

Based on this empirical evidence, the project explores the question of whether and to what extent gender inequality persists among couples in Austria and how parenthood changes the career and wage development of men and women. Austria has only relatively recently made the transition to equal parental leave arrangements. Society is gradually moving from a male career and sole earner model to a dual earner and dual career model. The societal change that has been underway in Scandinavia and in some Western European countries for several decades is thus only now taking hold in Austria.

This project is the first of its kind to shed light on the actual impact of this recent socio-political change on the career development and wages of new parents in Austria after the birth of a child. The project examines several key labour market inequalities associated with parenthood. These include the differences in career and wage development between women and men after the birth of a child, as well as increasing wife-husband wage inequality after marriage and the birth of a child. It is assumed that a fairer system of parental leave will promote the employment of mothers and reduce the wage disadvantage due to motherhood. However, the share of fathers taking paternity leave remains very low in Austria, suggesting that the division of paid work and childcare along traditional gender roles persists among young parents.

Our research will explore the exact use and division of parental leave among couples in Austria and analyse how these reflect on mothers’ and fathers’ incomes and careers. More equally shared parental leave may prevail in specific social groups (e.g. among highly-educated) or in some geographic areas (e.g. urban areas). Thus, the interplay of various individual, employment, and household characteristics as well as within-couple parental leave arrangements is also in the spotlight of the project. The results of the project will showcase the intended and unintended implications of the transition to a more equal parental leave system, asking how effective it really is in supporting the post-childbirth career and wage dynamics of new mothers in Austria. Consequently, the project will also elaborate possible policy changes to increase the efficiency of the Austrian parental leave system, in order to achieve real gender equality.

DATA_2024-06_WFH-REB “Teleworking and the Environment: Exploring Direct and Rebound Effects of Working from Home”

Principal investigators: BeateThies (University of Vienna), Lennart Ziegler (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Omar Bamieh (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Grant: 276,050.50 €

Abstract: To mitigate climate change, policymakers are striving to reduce CO2 emissions through various measures such as carbon pricing and fuel efficiency standards. Political support for ambitious carbon pricing policies, however, is generally low. Emissions from passenger cars increased between 2000 and 2019 in the EU, mostly due to growing transport volumes. Increasing traffic volumes likely also explain why, despite notable improvements over the last decades, air quality levels still violate guidelines set by the World Health Organization in most urban areas across Europe. This project aims to investigate whether working from home (WFH)—which has surged due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic—can contribute to solving these environmental issues. Remote work typically results in decreased commuting frequency, potentially reducing CO2 emissions and air pollution from road transport.  However, a rebound effect may occur if workers relocate or switch jobs, leading to increased commuting distances. If WFH options cause workers to commute less frequently but over longer distances, the net effect on emissions is unclear.

In this project, we will analyze how WFH affects commuting patterns and their environmental impact by exploiting recent expansions in remote-work options following the COVID-19 pandemic. We will compare trends in commuting distances and frequencies between workers in jobs with high and with low remote-work potential before and after the pandemic. Jobs with limited remote-work potential serve as a control group that captures common time trends because those workers cannot benefit from new WFH options. By pairing the results with vehicle fuel consumption data, we can quantify the impact on CO2 emissions.

Our analysis will be based on novel administrative data from Austria. We will link worker-level and firm-level records from multiple registers within the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC). This includes data on commuting distances, a wide range of worker and firm characteristics, and unique information on the extent of remote work, which is available because, starting in 2021, WFH days must be reported on workers’ pay slips. We will pair this with satellite-derived data on municipality-level particulate matter concentrations, enabling us to evaluate the commuting-related effects of WFH on air quality.

The hypothesis underlying our project is that remote work has reduced commuting frequencies but has also triggered changes in commuting distances due to worker relocation and job switching. We expect that the increase in remote work has caused a reduction in CO2 emissions and urban air pollution; however, this reduction is smaller than what one would expect in the absence of a rebound effect. The magnitudes of the counteracting effects on commuting and the resulting changes in environmental outcomes are empirical questions that we plan to answer with this project.

DATA_2024-11_INDUST “Individualising urbanisation stages: Analysing migration sequences and socio-demographic influences”

Principal investigators: Elisabeth Gruber (University of Innsbruck), Alois Humer Institute for Urban and Regional Research, ÖAW)

Grant: 309,250.10 €

Abstract: When people move between urban and rural areas, this often happens at certain stages of their lives and sometimes more than once in the life course. Since recently, the possibility of exploiting microdata via the Austrian Microdate Centre allows us not only to observe these internal migration movements as flows between different places, but also to look at the specific individual migration trajectories that occur over the life course. The INDUST project aims to uncover typical characteristics of migration trajectories within the Austrian urban-rural system and  their changes over time, but also to further explore the reasons and circumstances behind these moves as well as the evolution of preferences over generations. INDUST will not only examine migration patterns at the individual level, but also consider related life events - such as education, employment or family dynamics - while taking into account broader trends such as housing affordability and accessibility. It will therefore be possible to answer questions such as: Has the preference for urban living among young adults changed over the last 20 years? What are the dominant patterns of movement for different age groups over different time periods? And: what are important patterns of influence on these trajectories over time? By gaining a deeper understanding of the individual contribution to urbanisation patterns and potential shifts over time, the project will provide new insights into how internal migration is shaping Austria's cities and rural areas, helping to guide better planning and policies for the future.

DATA_2024-16_INSOL “Debtor careers before and after consumer insolvency. Is there a "fresh start"?”

Principal investigators: Stefan Angel (WIFO - Austrian Institute of Economic Research), Karin Heitzmann (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Philip Warum (WIFO - Austrian Institute of Economic Research)

Grant: 279,908.09 €

Abstract: This project focuses on personal bankruptcies in Austria. Consumer insolvency proceedings enable debtors with unsustainable debts to obtain debt discharge under certain conditions. In Austria, a personal bankruptcy procedure with debt discharge is available since 1995. Given the large role private debt plays in modern society, consumer insolvency proceedings are an important element of social and economic policy with effects on multiple outcomes such as health, entrepreneurial activity, and labor market participation. Yet, there is surprisingly little high-quality evidence on the causes and consequences of personal bankruptcy for countries other than the United States.

Moreover, the more recent past has witnessed multiple crises (Covid-19 pandemic, high inflation, high interest rates) which all potentially impact on household debt and consumer insolvency. Due to various regulations and cash transfers the welfare state in Austria managed to buffer short-term financial problems for most households during the Covid years and the period of high inflation. However, the mid- to long-term impact of these crises on household debt and private bankruptcies is yet rather unknown.

We address these research gaps by focusing on two questions:

First, we ask what employment and marital status histories can be observed among the population of insolvent consumers prior to insolvency. How are “critical changes” (potential financial shocks) in the employment and marital status (e.g. unemployment, divorce) associated with the likelihood of consumer insolvency? Is it a rather long or short path into consumer insolvency after such events? More generally: are there typical patterns of routes into insolvency?

Second, we are interested in employment outcomes and marital/family status after insolvency proceedings have started. How do labor market, income and marital status spells develop after the initiation/completion of bankruptcy proceedings? Are personal bankruptcies a recurring phenomenon for the formerly insolvent? Our data also allow us to examine former entrepreneurs’ employment (self-employment) trajectories after personal bankruptcy, e.g., to investigate if they become entrepreneurs again. How likely is a “fresh start” for them?

To address our research questions, we link register data on consumer insolvencies (https://edikte.justiz.gv.at) with register data on employment, marital status, and income (AMDC). We then apply sequence analysis and estimate panel regressions (event study designs) and instrumental variable regressions to learn about typical trajectories, entry and exit dynamics. Furthermore, we attempt to utilize variation in bankruptcy policy to identify its causal effects on employment, income and marital status.

Our project also provides pioneering work by linking anonymized data on consumer insolvencies with registers for income, family status and employment trajectories.

DATA_2024-18_CiLoS “Cities: Catalysts or roadblocks in labor market desegregation?”

Principal investigators: Ljubica Nedelkoska (Complexity Science Hub), Frank Neffke (Complexity Science Hub)

Grant: 349,999.69 €

Abstract: Austria has recently surpassed traditional immigrant countries such as the US and Canada in terms of the relative size of its foreign-born population. Within Austria, the majority – about 40% – of immigrants live in Vienna, representing 50% of the city’s population. Such patterns are not uncommon: large cities have long been viewed as “escalators”, offering access to a large number and variety of job and educational opportunities. However, cities may also facilitate segregation. The presence of large immigrant communities helps newcomers connect to other immigrants, possibly to the detriment of connections outside these communities. This may lead to stratification of social networks along ethnic lines. Because networks are important in finding jobs, such stratification reduces the visibility of, and access to, job opportunities. Consequently, it is a priori unclear whether immigrants derive net benefits or costs from locating in large cities.

Ethnic segregation is often studied in terms of residential patterns, but less is known about segregation across workplaces. Here, we ask to what extent the workforces of economic establishments consist of workers with similar ethnic backgrounds and genders. We study such workplace segregation for Austria between 2008 and 2022, leveraging large-scale administrative datasets that record the exact composition of workers for each establishment in the country. Next, we ask whether workplace segregation is related to the professional networks that are formed among current and former coworkers. Finally, we study the role of cities, asking whether networks and workplace segregation differ across cities and whether the relation between professional networks and workplace segregation depends on city size. This will reveal how cities shape networks and careers and whether they exacerbate or alleviate workplace segregation.

In a first stage, we analyze how the nature and geography of workplace segregation and of professional networks in Austria have evolved between 2008 and 2022. Next, we study how workplace segregation is associated with professional networks and city size. Finally, we ask how networks and workplace segregation relate to employment and wages.

In a second stage, we focus on workers who were displaced from their jobs in establishment closures. This focus ensures that we compare workers looking for jobs who lost their old jobs for reasons unrelated to their performance. To construct counterfactual career paths had these workers not been displaced, we match them to observationally similar nondisplaced workers. This allows us to compare actual to counterfactual career paths for different groups of displaced workers to uncover the causal relations between professional networks, labor market outcomes and workplace segregation, and how cities may affect these relations. The latter will contribute to our understanding of if and how cities help or hinder workplace segregation.

DATA_2024-20_BRIDGE-CCP “BRidging Inequality in Distance and GEnder: Commuting and Child-Penalty in the Austrian Labor Market”

Principal investigators: Tobias Eibinger (University of Graz), Ricarda Rosenball (University of Graz)

Grant: 298,380.55 €

Abstract: The child penalty - the reduction in earnings and career progression that women experience following childbirth - is a persistent issue contributing to gender inequality. Notably, this phenomenon is not observed among men after becoming fathers. We emphasize that a key channel through which the child penalty manifests is the gender commuting gap - an issue that has hardly been studied in this context. After childbirth, women tend to commute shorter distances than men due to increased childcare responsibilities that disproportionately fall on mothers. This necessitates flexible working hours and proximity to home, which often leads to significant career adjustments, reducing women’s long-term earnings potential and thereby contributing to the child penalty.

While previous studies have explored various factors contributing to the child penalty, the role of commuting patterns has received less attention. Our project aims to fill this gap by providing empirical evidence on the gender commuting gap in Austria. Specifically, we intend to demonstrate how the career adjustments women make after childbirth to reduce their commuting times contribute to the child penalty. By focusing on this aspect, our research offers a novel perspective on the mechanisms underlying the child penalty.

Our project is structured into three key phases. In the first phase, we delineate the impact of childbirth on commuting decisions, specifically focusing on the commuting adjustments made within couples. In the second phase, we examine differences in career adjustments between men and women after childbirth, particularly those that facilitate shorter commutes and go along with lower wages. In the third phase, we analyze the role of childcare availability and quality in reducing gender commuting gaps, assessing how improvements in access to childcare facilities can help mitigate commuting challenges for parents, especially mothers. Methodologically, we employ state-of-the-art difference-in-differences (DiD) techniques and extend established approaches to allow for heterogeneous treatment effects and avoid forbidden comparisons. To ensure robust causal inference, we carefully design control groups that closely approximate the counterfactuals as accurately as possible, even though the true counterfactual remains unknown.

We expect to observe significant gender commuting gaps in Austria after childbirth. We expect that mothers, more often than fathers, are compelled to make substantial career adjustments, such as choosing jobs closer to home, to manage family responsibilities. The reduced flexibility limits mothers' job options and often leads to wage losses compared to a situation without children. This is because mothers tend to accept more child-friendly part-time jobs with shorter commutes, often in lower-paying sectors and firms. We argue that enhancing childcare availability is an effective policy strategy to lessen the need for career adjustments after childbirth, thereby mitigating gender gaps in commuting and reducing the child penalty.

DATA_2024-36_DIEFISCAL “Distributional income and employment effects of fiscal policy: Micro-level evidence for Austria”

Principal investigators: Philipp Heimberger (Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw)

Grant: 327,224.70 €

Abstract: This project provides new micro-level evidence on how tax and transfer shocks affect incomes and employment. As the identification of exogenous policy shocks is a key issue in establishing a causal relation from tax and transfer policy changes to incomes and employment, we collect a rich time series of exogenous tax and transfer shocks for Austria. These novel data cover the timing, size and motivation of legislative tax and transfer changes over the period 2000-2022 based on information collected from government bills, budget reports, the annual budget speech of the finance minister in the Austrian parliament, press coverage and economic reports. We combine this narrative data set with micro data provided by the AMDC on incomes and employment. This allows us to test whether different policy measures (e.g. labor income tax reforms, changes to consumption taxes, or social security transfers) will affect individual income and employment trajectories differently. Combining the AMDC micro data with our macroeconomic dataset of fiscal shocks will enable a high-frequency identification of the impact of tax and transfer shocks at the individual level. These individual tax and transfer shocks can then be tested as possible explanations for individual employment trajectories, reasons for (un)employment and work time decisions, conditional on the social and economic status of the individual.

An important outcome of our project will be a consistent narrative macroeconomic time series of the timing, size, motivation and target of tax and transfer shocks for Austria. This dataset will be published open-source and can thus be used by other researchers for further research questions at the national level. It may also be combined with similar datasets for other countries in international panel studies or country-comparisons. While there is a large empirical literature on the macroeconomic effects of tax and transfer shocks, the transmission mechanisms from tax and transfer changes to income and employment effects are not yet well understood. Our findings will inform policy makers about the impact of different tax and transfer policies on employment and income trajectories in Austria, also with a view to exploiting regional variation. These findings will also contribute to the academic literature on the impact of fiscal policies. In particular, we will shed new light on the transmission mechanisms of tax and transfer shocks via labor supply and demand decisions that are currently not well understood. This could also inform parameterisations of modern macroeconomic heterogeneous agent models.

The following nine projects were approved in the first round of calls for proposals in 2023:

DATA_2023-08_SAOAA “Suicide among older adults in Austria: A low- and high-risk population study based on individual-level register data”

Principal investigators: Erwin Stolz (Medical University of Graz), Carlos Watzka (Sigmund Freud Private University Linz), Christian Jagsch (Medical University of Graz, State Hospital Graz II)

Fields of expertise: Public Health, Epidemiology, Sociology, Gerontology, Clinical Psychiatry

Funding amount: EUR 181.979,49

Abstract: Suicide is a tragedy at the individual level and a serious public health problem at the societal level. Although often overlooked, suicide rates in both Austria and other European countries increase rapidly with age, so that the highest suicide rates tend to show among the oldest old, and here, specifically among men. Austria has one of the highest suicide rates among the oldest old within the EU-27 countries. The high number of suicide deaths among older adults in Austria is not only a present-day concern, but also worrying against the background of population ageing, specifically the ageing of the large baby boomer generation, as this will likely lead to an increase in the absolute number of suicides among older adults in the decades ahead. The main research question of this project therefore is what risk factors can predict old age suicides in Austria, which can subsequently inform suicide prevention efforts. Against the background of newly available individual-level register data linkage in Austria within the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC), the aim of this project is to provide new and hitherto unavailable evidence on who among the older population is at an elevated risk of suicide death. Specifically, we seek to identify risk factors in two populations: (1) the whole general older population (low-risk setting) and (2) older psychiatric inpatients (high-risk setting). Risk factors will include demographic and socioeconomic factors, physical and mental health problems, disability and social disconnectedness. We will not only look at these factors in isolation, but also assess whether there are multiplicative effects for suicide risk, that is, when multiple risk factors co-occur at the same time, e.g. when the loss of spouse coincides with a cancer diagnosis. With this research project, we aim to better understand old age suicide in Austria, to inform suicide prevention efforts, and to illuminate the life circumstances of those older adults who see no other way but to (often violently) end their own lives.

DATA_2023-09_CONDIV “Consequences of divorce: Heterogeneity by duration and gender”

Principal investigators: Valeria Bordone (University of Vienna), Caroline Berghammer (OeAW, Vienna Institute of Demography – VID)

Fields of expertise: Demography

Funding amount: EUR 265.390,40

Abstract: This project investigates the consequences of divorce and partnership dissolution, focusing on economic resources, residential mobility, and re-partnering. It aims to address social inequality and inform social policy by comparing these consequences across different population groups. The project focuses on Austria, a conservative country with traditional gender roles in (western) European comparison.

Austria's divorce rate is moderate, declining since its peak in 2007, but cohabiting unions are increasing, as is the phenomenon of grey divorce (i.e. dissolution after age 50 or long-term marriages). This growth makes it timely to explore differences across partnership types and age groups. Austria also legalized same-sex partnerships relatively late (same-sex marriage since 2019) and acceptance of homosexuality tends to be lower than in other (western) European countries.

Existing European research on the consequences of divorce/partnership dissolution for population sub-groups is limited, mainly due to data limitation. The use of large-scale register data in this project allows, for the first time, to study the consequences of divorce and partnership separation in Austria across population sub-groups.

The project anticipates identifying disparities in economic resources and poverty post-dissolution, with women, in particular older women, experiencing higher financial losses due to traditional gender roles still present in the Austrian society. However, same-sex couples and younger age groups may exhibit fewer gender-based economic consequences. Residential mobility after divorce/partnership dissolution considers who moves out and why. Evidence on gender differences in this respect is inconclusive, but custodial parents, often mothers, tend to stay more frequently in the home. Guided by marital search theory, which assumes that partner selection is driven by resource maximization, younger individuals and those with greater resource needs are expected to re-partner more quickly.

In summary, this project contributes to research on consequences of divorce/partnership dissolution by exploring understudied aspects and sub-group heterogeneity, leveraging newly available register data, and providing policy-relevant findings addressing resource inequalities post-dissolution.

DATA_2023-10_GENDERQUOTA “Do female members on corporate boards make a difference? An evaluation of the introduction of the gender board quota in Austria”

Principal investigators: Andrea Weber (Central European University)

Fields of expertise: Labour market policy, Corporate finance, Gender Studies

Funding amount: EUR 258.626,90

Abstract: Even though women are catching up with men in the labor market, they are still strongly underrepresented at the top of the earnings distribution and in leading positions. To confront gender inequality at the top and to break the “glass ceiling” which prevents women from advancing into top corporate positions multiple countries have followed the Norwegian example and introduced laws mandating gender quotas for corporate boards. In 2018, Austria followed suite and introduced a gender quota for supervisory boards in large companies. The regulation requires a minimum of 30% for supervisory board members of each gender and addresses a group of companies defined by the legal form, size, number of capital representatives on the supervisory board, and other criteria.

This project aims to evaluate the effects of the quota reform on gender inequality in the Austrian labor market. We first study the direct effects on firms that are mandated to increase the share of female board members looking at the share of females in positions with decision power and on gender specific promotion probabilities within firms. Second, we investigate whether the reform also has spill-over effects on other firms by establishing role models that can break traditional gender norms.

The empirical evaluations in this project will be facilitated by a novel data base that will be established with the help of the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC).  We will access multiple administrative registers and link firm-level information on board membership with detailed employment and earnings records from the Social Security registers and information on firm outcomes.

The hypotheses underlying our work are firstly that women on supervisory boards can actively influence company decisions and implement measures that improve career opportunities, working conditions and wages for female employees. Secondly, we expect women on supervisory boards to have a signaling effect on other companies and on women's decisions in the labour market and therefore to have an impact beyond company boundaries. How large these effects are is an empirical question that we are addressing making use of Austrian micro data.

DATA_2023-22_CBISMC “Cross-border Income Shifting of Multinational Corporations: Measurement, Countermeasures, and Real-Economic Effects”

Principal investigators: Harald Amberger (Vienna University of Economics and Business)

Fields of expertise: Taxation, Accounting, Public finance, Business administration, Tax law

Funding amount: EUR 255.708,20

Abstract: As multinational firms continue to shift taxable income across borders and reduce their global tax burden, pressure on high-tax countries’ fiscal budgets and social systems is mounting. Therefore, the tax strategies of multinational firms and potential legislative counter measures to curtail cross-border income shifting are a primary concern for society, policy makers, and researchers. Despite the broad relevance of income shifting and the far-reaching reforms of the international tax system proposed by the OECD, we still lack consensus about the magnitude of income shifted and the extent to which specific counter measures effectively curb the behavior. In addition, the real-economic effects of cross-border income shifting are not well understood.

Drawing on administrative tax-return data for the universe of Austrian corporations, the project addresses these research gaps along three dimensions. First, the project provides an estimate of income shifted out of a small open economy such as Austria and the associated loss in tax revenue. The estimate is obtained by quantifying the difference in taxable income reported by Austrian subsidiaries of multinational firms relative to comparable domestic firms. In this regard, the project assesses the suitability of publicly available financial statement data, which the extant literature regularly uses in place of confidential tax-return data, for identifying and quantifying cross-border income shifting. The project also identifies conditions under which the empirical relationship between financial reporting income and taxable income varies. Second, the project exploits the adoption of legislative counter measures as quasi-exogenous shocks and investigates the effect on income shifting. In addition to speaking to the effectiveness of anti-abuse provisions and recent reform efforts, the analysis sheds light on potential firm responses and the interrelations between shifting strategies. Finally, the project investigates whether cross-border income shifting shapes firm-level investment incentives and studies the real-economic effects of anti-abuse provisions.

Collectively, the project advances our understanding of cross-border income shifting and the suitability of commonly used data sources and research methods for identifying and quantifying the behavior. The project also sheds light on the effectiveness of anti-abuse provisions and associated real-economic effects. The expected results speak to international researchers interested in the tax strategies of multinational firms, inform policymakers around the globe in their tax-reform efforts, and contribute scientific evidence to an increasingly emotional public debate about the taxation of multinational firms.

DATA_2023-23_HIGHINF “Distributional implications of a high inflation, high interest rate environment”

Principal investigators: Jesús Crespo Cuaresma (Vienna University of Economics and Business), Serguei Kaniovski (Austrian Institute of Economic Research – WIFO), Sebastian Poledna (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis – IIASA)

Fields of expertise: Economics, Computer simulation

Funding amount: EUR 303.050,00

Abstract: The current rise in inflation and the subsequent monetary policy response have distributional effects on corporate and household income. With the aim of realistically modeling the heterogeneity in the income, credit, and risk channels of monetary policy transmission in the production sector, we will develop a novel macroeconomic agent-based model (ABM) calibrated using data provided by the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC).

Macroeconomic agent-based modeling based on microeconomic data represents a cutting-edge technology for simulations of the impact of policy measures, which became available in Austria and other countries with the advent of comprehensive microeconomic data. Similar simulation approaches have also become established in other fields. The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the usefulness of fine-grained simulations for forecasting and policy analysis in the context of disease control. The global trend toward opening administrative data sources for research, advances in computing power, and statistical analysis techniques (esp. machine learning) are likely to increase interest in large-scale simulation methods in academia and foster the demand for such simulations from policymakers, who increasingly require addressing the distributional consequences of policies as a standard element of impact assessment.

Linking the data provided by the AMDC with balance sheet data will allow us to develop a simulation model that represents the financial conditions of firms with an unprecedented degree of granularity and empirical realism that is unmatched by existing macroeconomic models. The model will simulate how incomes respond to economic conditions by accounting for feedback effects between economic agents, enabling us to accurately project macroeconomic dynamics under different scenarios for energy prices and interest rates and to highlight the distributional consequences of these scenarios for firms and households. We will also examine how centralized wage bargaining and a bank-based financial system may affect monetary transmission. This project is thus an important step towards creating a "digital twin" of an economy that can be used to assess the impact of economic policies on individual firms and households in general and contributes to the literature on monetary policy and inequality that has traditionally focused on household income.

DATA_2023-32_TopstatsMicroData “Towards precise statistical analysis plans facilitating microdata analyses to advance Health Research”

Principal investigators: Daniela Dunkler, Susanne Strohmaier, Georg Heinze (Medical University of Vienna)

Fields of expertise: Statistics, Data science, Epidemiology

Funding amount: EUR 285.938,90

Abstract: Microdata have an enormous potential to inform stakeholders such as health policy makers, health professionals and the general public about the impact of their decisions on public and individual health. The estimates of such impact depend on the quality of the underlying data source as well as the choice of statistical analysis approach. A single research question can lead to many sensible paths of analysis, depending on a researcherʹs experience and preferred analysis approach. This can lead to variation in results, also termed ʹvibration of effectsʹ. This may be perceived as variation in researchersʹ opinions. Thus, this natural variation may have contributed to the evident skepticism toward science in the general public.

Using Austrian microdata, we will address three health‐related research objectives focusing on 1) the effectiveness of branded versus generic chronic disease medications, 2) the association between night shift work and cancer incidence and 3) the effect of kidney transplantation on survival in diabetic patients. While these topics are of interest to the relevant target population in their own right, we also employ them to explore our meta‐scientific objective – to investigate the size of vibration of effects in these three applications.

To this end, we will develop a consensus state‐of‐the‐art statistical analysis plan (SAP) as well as meta‐SAPs comprising all alternative options at each step of an SAP for the three studies together with a panel of national and international methodologists. Data analysis will follow the state‐of‐the‐art‐SAPs and all pathways through the meta‐SAPs. Hence, we will be able to answer the three research questions on health issues, but also to quantify the vibration of effects in these health studies. We will also explore different sources of this vibration of effects, such as the vibration induced by the translation of the written SAP into software code or differences in data analyst’s experience and expertise.

We will disseminate our insights of vibration of effects in peer‐reviewed journals and provide a comprehensive SAP template for microdata analyses to enhance reproducibility. Additionally, two web applications in German and English to communicate the vibration of effects to other researchers and the general public will be deployed and distributed through social media channels. The results of the three health‐related objectives will be published in relevant peer‐reviewed journals. The guidelines of Open Science will lead our dissemination endeavor, i.e., sharing all relevant project results and communicating the results in different ways and through different channels to various target audiences. Thus, our project will also serve as a blueprint for similar activities in other fields with the long‐term goal of making scientific work more transparent and accessible to the general public.

DATA_2023-36_LEDA “Ageing workers in the Austrian labour market - Linked Employer-employee Data Analysis”

Principal investigators: Bernhard Mahlberg (Institute for Industrial Research – IWI), Alexia Fürnkranz-Prskawetz (OeAW, Vienna Institute of Demography – VID)

Fields of expertise: Labour market policy, Demography

Funding amount: EUR 346.160,28

Abstract: Most industrialized countries are facing an aging and shrinking workforce together with shortage of skilled workers. Insofar as this trend comes as a consequence of persistent low fertility and the retirement of the baby boom generation, it will continue in the future. As a way to mitigate the impact of this demographic development, it is important to foster the integration of older workers into the labour market. This project aims at a better understanding of the productivity of older workers and identifying firm characteristics facilitating the integration of older workers into the labour force. Using panel econometrics and drawing on a panel data set spanning from 2009 to 2021, we will analyse the relationship between the age structure of the work force and labour productivity/wages at the firm level in Austria. Being able to consider both firm (e.g., size, sector, location, capital intensity…) and worker characteristics (e.g., age, gender, tenure, education...), we will be able investigate the factors that shape the relation between older employees and labour productivity and wages at the firm level. In doing so, we will pay particular attention to the trends towards digitalisation and automation. From the results we will conclude which factors at the firm and employee level determine whether older employees are kept longer in working life and help to mitigate the shrinking of the working population and the resulting shortage of skilled workers.

DATA_2023-39_Skill-PAL “Skill loss during parental leave and its role for gender disparities in earnings”

Principal investigators: Sonja Spitzer (University of Vienna)

Fields of expertise: Economics, Demography

Funding amount: EUR 334.228,10

Abstract: This project provides a missing puzzle piece for understanding the persistent gender differences in earnings. Studies have shown that the longer child-related career interruptions of mothers are related to their lower income, but the mechanisms behind this link are still unclear. Many researchers have alluded to the idea that mothers lose work-related skills during extended parental leave durations, which could be one explanation for their lower earnings. However, empirical evidence for this potential link is missing.

We fill this important research gap by answering the question “Does skill loss during parental leave contribute to gender disparities in earnings?”. The project takes a novel approach by matching detailed administrative data for Austria and Sweden with test scores on work-related skills from the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Survey of Adult Skills. This allows us to link parents’ skills to their income and labour market trajectories, as well as to those of their partners. By focusing on Austria with Sweden, we will compare two countries with very different family policies, gender norms, and labour market outcomes of mothers and fathers. In addition, we investigate how parental leave policies affect gender differences in job skills and earnings. For this, we compare the statutory parental leave regulations of 32 OECD countries from 1960 to 2023 and link them to the skill scores of parents. This allows us to estimate the effect of statutory parental leave duration on work-related skills for mothers and fathers during working age and in later life.

Our findings will inform the ongoing discussion on the reconciliation of family and work across economics, demography, and other fields of research that evaluate family-related policies. Most directly, we contribute to the vivid literature on the design of parental leave policies and their ambiguous effect on parents’ labour market outcomes. Our research will help assessing statutory leave duration from a policymaker’s perspective, who has to balance care and protection during significant life events, financial aspects, workforce productivity, and broader societal objectives such as gender equity.

This project is also highly relevant in light of demographic change and the current skill shortages across OECD countries. Exploiting existing human capital potentials is considered a promising strategy to address the shrinking skilled labour force. Here, increasing the labour market participation of mothers is often seen as an important lever. Our project will assess whether long parental leave has an impact that goes beyond the mere absence of skilled mothers, i.e. whether parental leave is linked to skill depreciation. The results may also prove important at the organisational level, where skill maintenance strategies are essential for companies to manage skill erosions during parental leave and other career interruptions.

DATA_2023-42_AGALOD “Against All Odds: The Influence of Contextual Factors on Overcoming Inequalities of Educational Opportunities”

Principal investigators: Claudia Reiter, Mario Steiner, Henrika Langen (Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna – IHS)

Fields of expertise: Empirical social research, Educational sociology, Econometrics, Statistics

Funding amount: EUR 347.352,50

Abstract: Scholars have long been interested in exploring inequalities of educational opportunities, with a particular focus on the impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on educational outcomes. In Austria, this issue is of particular concern, as a large body of empirical evidence shows that educational trajectories are significantly impacted by SES. However, there remains a gap in understanding why some students’ trajectories deviate from what would be predicted given their SES. Studies that do examine these trajectories against the odds tend to concentrate on individual or behavioural factors and typically analyse a static situation such as a single educational outcome or transition.

In this project, we expand the existing literature in at least two significant dimensions. Firstly, we adopt a dynamic life course approach, focusing on complete educational trajectories rather than isolated outcomes, and study also the impact of changes in students' living conditions, such as family disruptions or parental job loss. Secondly, we explore the role of contextual factors at the regional, school, and class level on the likelihood of pursuing educational trajectories against the odds. This shift in focus from individual background characteristics to structural factors allows us to provide new empirical insights concerning equity and inequality in education and educational systems.

Our research builds on a comprehensive dataset that combines educational register data and register-based employment information with individual background and family characteristics as well as standardized test scores and contextual indicators, such as infrastructure or SES composition, at the regional, school, and class level. This allows us to follow an entire cohort of students over a period of 16 years. By applying cutting-edge methods, including a transition-oriented sequence analysis and a machine learning approach, we identify trajectories against the odds and study the role of contextual factors in driving these unusual pathways.

The main objective of this project is to investigate how contextual factors contribute to reducing or reinforcing inequalities of educational opportunities. Our project therefore perfectly complements the rich literature on the influence of individual characteristics on educational outcomes. By using novel methodological approaches, expanding the analysis to an entire cohort – with a focus on those who followed trajectories against the odds – and including both life changes and a variety of contextual factors, we intend to offer fresh empirical insights in the field of educational sociology. Moreover, our findings will inform policymakers on potential interventions and strategies for promoting greater educational equity and social justice. The implications of this project go therefore well beyond its academic contribution, with strong relevance for policymakers and society at large.

VIENNA UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Tuesday, 28 January 2025, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Galerie (Gebäude LC, Erdgeschoß rechts)

Welthandelsplatz 1, 1020 Wien

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UNIVERSITY OF GRAZ

Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.

SZ 15.21 (ReSowi-Zentrum)
Universitätsstraße 15
A-8010 Graz

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University of Klagenfurt

Thursday, 18 January 2024, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Raum Z.1.09
Universitätsstraße 65-67, 9020 Klagenfurt

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University of Salzburg

Wednesday, 28 February 2024, 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Europa-Saal
Mönchsberg 2, 5020 Salzburg

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University of Innsbruck

Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Claudiana-Saal
Herzog-Friedrich-Straße 3, 6020 Innsbruck

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Austrian Academy of Sciences

Wednesday, 15 March 2023, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

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Medical University of Graz

Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 2 p.m. - 5 p.m.

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Johannes Kepler University Linz

Monday, 30 January 2023, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

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