INDEPENDENT EXTERNAL EVALUATION OF THE ECONOMIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AT THE ECB
Francoforte, 7 April 2004 - On 1 July 2003 the Executive Board of the Ecb decided, on a proposal from the Directorate General Research, to request an evaluation of the economic research activities at the Ecb. Three independent external experts – Marvin Goodfriend, Reiner König and Rafael Repullo – were invited to act as evaluators and were given specific Terms of Reference. Their final report, which was delivered on 20 February 2004, is being released today The report gives a balanced account of achievements since the establishment of the Ecb in 1998. On the whole, the report provides a positive assessment of the research conducted at the Ecb on several criteria: scientific quality and value added; relevance for the conduct of monetary policy and for the other tasks and functions of the Ecb; and influence on the academic community and on other policy-making institutions. As requested in their Terms of Reference, the evaluators also made a number of useful recommendations in five areas: i) incentives for staff to conduct high-quality research; ii) long-term management of human capital; iii) coverage and coordination of research activities in the different business areas of the Ecb; iv) research support; and v) communication and dissemination of research.
