STIFTELSEN INSTITUTET FOR NARINGSLIVSFORSKNING

Their core work

IFN (Research Institute of Industrial Economics) is a Stockholm-based independent research institute that applies rigorous economic methods to questions about firms, markets, institutions, and public policy. Their work spans industrial economics, entrepreneurship research, and — more recently — gender economics, using causal inference and econometric methods to produce evidence that can inform both policy and business decisions. They are not a generalist social science body: their distinguishing feature is methodological rigor applied to applied economics questions with real-world policy relevance. Operating as a think-tank-style research institute, they contribute specialist analytical capacity to consortia rather than leading large infrastructure projects.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the first half of their H2020 participation (2015–2018), IFN contributed to research on entrepreneurship ecosystems and financial-institutional reform — consistent with their core identity as an industrial economics institute. By 2021, their H2020 footprint had shifted markedly toward gender economics: the Evidence-VAW project uses econometric tools to study violence against women and women's rights, with keywords centered on causal evidence and gender inequality measurement. The shift is not a departure from methodology — rigorous econometrics runs through both phases — but represents a move from firm/market economics toward social outcomes and gender as an economic variable.

IFN is moving from traditional industrial economics toward applied gender and social economics, while retaining causal econometrics as their methodological signature — making them an attractive partner for ERC-level social science projects that need credible quantitative evidence on inequality.

How they like to work

IFN participates exclusively as a partner, never as coordinator — consistent with the role of a specialist research institute that brings focused analytical expertise rather than project management capacity. With only 10 unique partners across 2 projects, their network is small and selective, suggesting they join consortia where their specific econometric or economic research contribution is the point rather than serving as a broad network hub. This makes them a high-value but narrowly defined collaborator.

IFN has worked with 10 unique consortium partners across 8 countries, giving them a genuinely European (though not large-scale) collaborative network. Their footprint suggests targeted participation in multi-country comparative research rather than broad pan-European infrastructure projects.

What sets them apart

IFN occupies a rare position as an independent (non-university) economics research institute with ERC-level project experience and a track record bridging industrial economics and gender economics — two communities that rarely overlap. Their independence from university structures means they can act with more flexibility as a research partner, and their Swedish base provides access to exceptional administrative register data that underpins high-quality causal research. For consortia needing rigorous quantitative economic analysis — especially on gender, labor markets, or entrepreneurship — IFN brings credibility that generic university departments often cannot match.

Highlights from their portfolio

• Evidence-VAW
  An ERC Advanced Grant project (the most prestigious individual researcher award in EU science), running to 2027, focused on generating causal econometric evidence on violence against women — placing IFN at the frontier of gender economics research.
• FIRES
  A multi-country RIA project on financial and institutional reforms for entrepreneurship, representing IFN's traditional industrial economics identity and their only project with recorded EC funding.