About BICEPS

The Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies (BICEPS) is an independent research centre located in Riga, Latvia. Our aim is to undertake and promote high quality policy-oriented research in economics and other social sciences and to provide informed advice and consulting services for both government and business in the Baltic states and elsewhere.

BICEPS, which is now located on the fourth floor of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga building, started operations in 2001 with the help of a grant from the Swedish Foreign Ministry and with assistance from the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE). BICEPS became an independent legal entity in May 2002. We now have a broad and expanding portfolio of projects and a largely young and dedicated staff that includes some of the first returning PhDs from doctoral programmes abroad. Our activities include academic research, commissioned work for local ministries and international institutions as well as participation in EU-wide networks. We are part of an integrated network of research centres and universities in the region with partners in the Baltic states, Sweden, Russia, Poland and Ukraine. We have an especially close collaboration with the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga) – some of our researchers are also lecturers at the school and we run a joint seminar series. Also, together with SSE Riga we publish Baltic Economic Trends (BET) which reports on the latest research in the Baltic states and offers commentary on economic developments.

Our growing participation in international programmes such as the 6th Framework Programme and the Global Development Network contributes to another important BICEPS objective, namely to promote the integration of the Baltic economics profession into the European and world community of economists.