Profile

Education and professional activities

Born on 3 December 1972 in Vienna. Studied economics and business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, receiving a doctorate in social and economic sciences summa cum laude in June 2000. University Assistant at the University of Klagenfurt, Institute of Economics, from 1997 to 2006; Associate Professor at its Department of Economics from 2007 to 2014. Since 2012, Professor at the University for Continuing Education Krems, responsible for economy and health as well as economic, budgetary and fiscal policy. Also Vice Dean of the Faculty of Health and Medicine from 2014 to 2019.

Extensive teaching in economic policy, economics, regional economics, credit and banking, financial markets, health economics and healthcare management. Teaching appointments have included the Federal Academy of Education, the Institute of Banking at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, Bankenkolleg, the Austrian association of banks and bankers, numerous commercial banks and insurers, and postgraduate programmes in public management and financial services. Lecturer at the Institute of Banking, Vienna University of Economics and Business, from 2000 to 2004.

Extensive consulting work on projects for organisations including UNIDO, the Government of Slovenia, the Austrian Federal Chancellery and ministries of finance, the interior and economic affairs, EU projects, the World Bank, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, the OeNB and the Economic Chamber. Scientific adviser to the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the Analysis of Economic Policy Activities from 2002 to 2004. President of METIS – Institute for Economic and Political Research from 2004 to 2013. Initiator and President of Forum Velden.

Member of the Supervisory Board of Entwicklungsagentur Kärnten GmbH (EAK) and Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board of Kärntner Tourismusholding GmbH (KTH), 2008–2013. Chair of the Economic Policy Advisory Council of Carinthia, 2009–2015. Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board of Kärntner Krankenanstaltenbetriebsgesellschaft (KABEG), 2012–2016. Independent financial expert on the Supervisory Board of HYPO NOE Gruppe Bank and subsequently HYPO NOE Landesbank, 2015–2019. Member of the Supervisory Board of EBG Medaustron GmbH, 2016–2017; member of the Development Policy Advisory Council, 2014–2017; member of the Supervisory Board of Bundesrechenzentrum GmbH (BRZ), 2017–2019. Member of the supervisory and governing boards of Caritas Vienna since 2017.

Member of the OeNB General Council, 2013–2019. Vice President of the Austrian Fiscal Advisory Council, 2013–2018, and President, 2018–2020. Board member of Transparency International Austrian Chapter (TI-AC), 2016–2020, subsequently a member of its Advisory Board. Vice Governor of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Alternate Governor at the International Monetary Fund and member of the FMA Supervisory Board, 2019–2024. Chair of the Supervisory Boards of Erste Group Bank AG and Erste Bank der oesterreichischen Sparkassen AG since 2025.

Research interests

Economic research includes economic policy, regional economics, impact analysis, European integration and monetary union, quantitative methods, applied econometrics and health economics. Business research focuses on banking, money and financial markets, credit, bank management accounting, risk management, bank valuation, management, operations research and healthcare management. Further research in information technology. Numerous lectures, including at Stanford and Cambridge, and publications in these fields. Included in “2000 Outstanding Scholars of the 21st Century”.