Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tobias Thomas
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| Tobias Thomas is an economist focusing on economic policy, competitiveness and structural reforms. He combines academic research with executive leadership experience in research institutions, government, and international policy. He is Vice Chair of the Austrian Productivity Board, which serves as Austria’s Council of Economic Advisors on productivity and competitiveness, and Professor of Economics at the Graz Schumpeter Centre at the University of Graz. From 2020 to 2025, Thomas was Director General of Statistics Austria, leading the national statistical office with around 850 employees and a budget of €100 million, and representing Austria at the United Nations, the OECD and the European Commission. During his term, the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC) and the Austrian Socio-Economic Panel (ASEP) were established, and Austria was elected by the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC) for the first time in more than four decades. Previously, Thomas was Director of the economic research institute EcoAustria in Vienna, where research and advisory projects for federal ministries, regional governments and the European Commission were expanded. He also served on the Austrian Pension Commission. Earlier positions include Director of Economic Policy and Director of European Economic Policy at the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) in Berlin and Brussels, as well as Research Director of an international media analysis institute with offices in Zurich, Hanoi, New York and Pretoria. He also founded the Berlin-based policy platform Econwatch, which facilitates the transfer of economic research into policymaking and public debate. Thomas studied economics at the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Berlin. He received his doctorate (summa cum laude) and habilitation from Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg and was a visiting scholar at Columbia University at the invitation of Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz and at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance at the invitation of Kai A. Konrad. His academic work has been published in scientific journals including the European Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, the Journal of Economics and Statistics, the Journal of Forecasting, the Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, Constitutional Political Economy, and Public Choice. His research focuses on economic policy, competitiveness, public finances, media impact and structural reforms. Thomas contributes regularly to economic policy debates in national and international media and is frequently cited in the press. In the ranking of the most influential economists by Die Presse, F.A.Z. and Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Thomas was ranked 5th in Austria in 2019 (2018: 6th place). Since 2020, he has no longer been listed due to his position as Director General of Statistics Austria. In 2024, Thomas was quoted 1,699 times in the media (2023: 1,788; 2022: 1,601 times). |
| • “Recharging Europe’s Competitiveness: The Case for a European Productivity Board”. Published online first in: European View (2026) (with A. Reinstaller). • “Whatever it takes! How Tonality of News affects Government Bond Yield Spreads in the Eurozone”. Published online first in: European Journal of Political Economy (2024) (with L. P. Feld, P. Hirsch and E. A. Köhler). • “Fostering Excellent Research by the Austrian Micro Data Center (AMDC)”. Published online first in: Journal of Economics and Statistics/Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik (2023) (with R. Fuchs, T. Göllner and S. Hartmann). • “Too hot to play it cool? Temperature and negative media bias”. Published online first in: Public Choice, (2025) (with D. Stadelmann and N. Zakharov). • “Media Coverage and Immigration Worries: Econometric Evidence”, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 160 (2019), 52-67 (mit C. Benesch, S. Loretz, S. & D. Stadelmann). • “Can media drive the electorate? The impact of media coverage on voting intentions”, European Journal of Political Economy, 58 (2019), 245-261, (mit R. Dewenter, R. & M. Linder). |