Tobias Thomas

Tobias Thomas is Professor of Economics at the Graz Schumpeter Center (GSC), University of Graz, and Vice Chair of the Austrian Productivity Board. Previously, he served as Director General of the Austrian Federal Statistical Office (“Statistics Austria”), representing Austria at the European Commission, the United Nations, and the OECD. Earlier positions include Director of the economic research institute EcoAustria in Vienna, Research Director of an international media analysis institute with offices in Hanoi, New York, Pretoria, and Zurich, as well as Director for Economic Policy and European Economic Policy at the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Berlin and Brussels. After studying economics at the University of Bonn and the Technical University of Berlin, Thomas received his doctorate summa cum laude from Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg, where he also completed his habilitation. He was a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York, at the invitation of Nobel laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz, and at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance in Munich, invited by Kai A. Konrad. His research interests include economic policy, public finance, competitiveness, political economy of reforms, and the media impact on perception and behaviour. His work has been published, among others, in the European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Public Choice, and Constitutional Political Economy. He regularly serves as economic advisor and contributes to national and international media.