In its research activities, the Bank of Finland concentrates on its strengths, focusing on issues that serve strategic decision-making within the Eurosystem and on the development of analytical tools.
Key areas of expertise being developed include monetary policy modelling and issues relating to the efficiency and stability of financial and payment systems, as well as to economies in transition. Our research activities are therefore organised into three programmes: monetary policy modelling, financial markets (future of the financial services sector) and economies in transition. The first two programmes are carried out in the Research unit while the third is carried out in the Bank of Finland Institute for Economies in Transition (BOFIT).
The research programmes provide the framework for our research activities. They are seldom changed, and generally only in conjunction with changes in the Bank's overall strategy. The programmes were launched in 1998 and were last revised in 2005.
In contrast, all individual research projects are conducted on a fixed-term basis. Project researchers are recruited both in-house and externally.
The Bank of Finland history project is a separate project being conducted outside the research programmes, and was established by a separate decision of the Board of the Bank. It was launched at the beginning of December 2004 with the aim of producing a properly researched history of the Bank by 2010.