You may be attempting to attract foreign investment or simply trying to gauge what lies ahead for your business, but either way access to statistics and economic forecasting could be a useful resource. Research carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has played a key role in determining the current economic climate […]
You may be attempting to attract foreign investment or simply trying to gauge what lies ahead for your business, but either way access to statistics and economic forecasting could be a useful resource. Research carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has played a key role in determining the current economic climate over the past number of decades.
The institute was set up in order to bring the expert thinking in economics and the social sciences to bear on the current and potential problems of Irish society. Its research programme covers a broad range of topics including economic forecasting and modelling, public finance, the labour market, social exclusion, the environment, education and health. Aside from its own research it carries out commissioned research on behalf of government departments, semi-state bodies and private companies.
Taking a look at its site could yield a lot of valuable information. While it hasn’t published all of its research online, a lot of information is available. For example there is a summary of the most recent Quarterly Economic Commentary and a summary along with selected chapters of the 1999-2005 Medium Term Review. While research such as this may be the most high profile of the ESRI’s output, there is a lot more to its work and the site includes summaries of its most recent research, covering fields such as education, industrial policy, crime, investment priorities and taxation. If you’re looking for an overall perspective, this site may be a good place to start. If you want to delve a little further you have the option of buying the whole report. An order form is available for print-out on the site.
