The Department of Economics is an active academic unit where teaching and societal contribution are based in its research. The department operates within the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics together with the economics departments of the University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics.

The main focus area of the department is applied microeconomics. The most important research fields are:

• Microeconomic Theory
• Empirical Microeconomics (including labor economics and policy evaluation)
• Economics of Competition and Innovation
• Environmental and Resource Economics

Researchers at the department are active participants in the international academic community and they also engage in societal debates. The departmental platform for collaboration with the society, Aalto Economic Institute, makes the expertise of individual researchers more accessible to the society at large.

Examples of current research projects at the department include

Microeconomic Theory

• Incentives and Efficiency When Participation is Costly
• Entry and Exit in Energy Markets
• Dynamic Incentive Theory

Empirical Microeconomics

• Allocation of talent
• What Makes an Innovator?
• Economics of Gender