KOF as a Mediator

KOF Swiss Economic Institute defines itself as one of the leading economic “think tanks” in Switzerland. In this prospect, KOF (acronym for the German word "Konjunkturforschungsstelle", which means business cycle research institute) aims to play two roles, one as a mediator between a broader public (politics, society) and the research community, and one as a leading platform for economists, especially within Switzerland.

Another major function of the KOF is scientific research for dissemination in academic and related professional circles via publications and participation in international meetings and conferences.

KOF as a Bridge Between Economists and Society

In order to carry out the first task, KOF offers the public its products (forecasts, indicators, studies) and its expertise. Specifically, KOF communicates the generated scientific results in clear cut terms to a larger public, e.g. in its monthly newsletter KOF Bulletin or in its quarterly in-house journal KOF Analyses. Besides these periodic publications, KOF publishes press releases, gives external lectures, and answers requests for economic data and assessments from the media and other interested parties.

KOF also plays a major role in providing companies and the broader public with survey results amongst Swiss firms capturing different sectors. These surveys mirror the economic situation and mood of Swiss companies and thereby are important in assessing economic developments in Switzerland. Currently, many of these surveys are carried out at a quarterly frequency. It is intended to increase the frequency up to monthly and to communicate especially the firm-, sector- and region-specific results in a more customer-oriented fashion.

Early 2010, KOF launched the internet platform www.oekonomenstimme.org. Ökonomenstimme is a forum (in German) that helps close the gap between economic researchers and a broader audience. That audience includes government economists, international organisations, academia, and the private sector as well as journalists specialising in economics, finance and business in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The goal is to raise the level of public policy discussion by making research-based analysis and commentary more accessible to the informed public and bringing a wider range of researchers into the debate by lowering the entry barriers.