Russia’s war on Ukraine entails lost human capital, both in actual lives lost and due to major disruptions to key functions of the society, such as education and research. In light of this, the FREE Network, together with the Centre for Economic Analysis (CenEA) and the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), hosted the public conference “Higher Education and Research in War and Peace“ in Warsaw on the 10th of September 2022. This policy brief is based on the presentations and panel discussions held during the conference.

Ukraine is currently receiving substantial inflows of foreign aid from western donors to help the country withstand the Russian aggression. The foreign aid flows partly reflect altruistic motives from the donor side, but also donor’s domestic strategic foreign policy objectives as the war is seen as part of a battle over the future world order. In this brief, Anders Olofsgård, discuss the academic literature that has analysed the existence and consequences of strategic motivations behind aid flows more generally, and draw some preliminary insights for the case of Ukraine.

SITE and NES (New Economic School) researchers investigate how multinational firms manage their relationships with governments under the threat of expropriation. Exploring micro data from the oil and gas industry worldwide, they show that the multinationals delay investment, production and tax payments by more than five years in countries with weak institutions relative to countries with strong ones. These findings are consistent with the theory suggesting that delaying rents to the government in absence of formal enforcement could decrease the risk of expropriation.

Charity auction of the Christine König Gallery and Dorotheum (Vienna) with works by Ukrainian artists for the benefit of the Friends of KSE Foundation (Kyiv School of Economics) to support free living space and educational support for Ukrainian children and their families.

A new report from the Stockholm School of Economics draws on recent literature to develop a framework for evaluating mission-driven innovation environments and the work principles that guide their development.

We are honoured that H.E. Mr. Oleksiy Chernyshov, Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, who is paying a visit to Stockholm as the President’s of Ukraine Special Envoy, chose to make the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) his first stop in his busy schedule today.

This brief provides an overview of the discussion on the relative merits of grants and loans in the literature on foreign aid, including a short section on debt relief initiatives. These claims are then tested against the context of Ukrainian post-war reconstruction, and it is argued that the case for providing grants is very strong. This argument is based on the magnitude of the investments needed, the need to create a long-run sustainable economy, the road towards a future EU membership, and the global value of a democratic and prosperous Ukraine as a bulwark against autocratic forces.

The world is darkened by Russia´s terrifying and tragic war against Ukraine. The Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) together with the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) and the Embassy of Ukraine in Sweden hosted a fundraising event and discussion on how to provide intellectual and humanitarian support to faculty members, researchers, and students working within and outside Ukraine’s borders.

Former Swedish ambassador to Moscow and the OSCE Veronika Bard declares the OSCE project dead, calls for a Swedish-Russia strategy and warns against underestimating the Kremlin's political leadership.

Against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Swedish financial support to Russia has become questioned. Anders Olofsgård, Associate Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) and Deputy Director at the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE), explains why we need to understand what that support is actually financing and what its purpose is.