Bosnia and Herzegovina is currently at the turning point after an initial 13-year long development phase following the devastating war of the early 1990s. The public sector has undergone major reforms supported by a range of international organizations; the legal framework, judiciary, education and social services sectors have all registered improvements in the quality of their service and resource management.
However, many reforms are still awaiting implementation and there remains considerable uncertainty as to what the best development path for Bosnia and Herzegovina is on its road to expected accession to the European Union.
In order to help the authorities and other stakeholders of the BiH economy understand, plan and implement the next steps in its development, a rigorous economic and policy research is needed. At the moment, international organizations (e.g., World Bank's Country Economic Memorandum) mostly generate such a body of research, with a small participation of the country's academic institutions.
The Institute for Economic and Policy Research at Sarajevo School of Science and Technology would be a significant step toward closing the gap in the analytical approach in understanding the major economic and policy tradeoffs facing BiH. The Institute would generate a wealth of information and policy papers addressing these burning issues.
- Economic policy research papers on the most important questions of national reform, e.g., reform of the social welfare sector, monetary policy, education reform, etc.
- Analysis and policy recommendations for stimulating economic activity in BiH
- Sector-based analysis identifying barriers to growth and the most attractive industries for development based on country's competitive advantage
- Local-government based recommendations for regional development in cooperation with other European governments.
- Promotion of democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives.
The Institute recruits full-time top university graduates in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and attracts BiH nationals with completed degrees from foreign institutions. It strives to provide the benchmark level of excellence in BiH, as well as an attractive learning environment and career prospects for its members. The Institute also gives an opportunity to the students of Sarajevo School of Science and Technology to conduct their research projects during their course of study under the mentorship of academic and research staff.
Institute for Economic and Policy Research (IEPR)
Contacts at SSST:
Vjekoslav Domljan -
vjekoslav.domljan@ssst.edu.ba;
Žana Prutina -
zana.prutina@ssst.edu.ba;
Amer Demirović -
amer.demirovic@ssst.edu.ba
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