Gábor Oblath, Scientific Advisor

oblath.gabor(at)krtk.mta.hu

oblathg(at)gmail.com

Education and degrees:

  • University of Economics, Budapest, 1975
  • Ph.D., Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1995

Language skills:

  • English: excellent
  • French: advanced

Research interests and current research:

  • Macroeconomics, international economics, economic policy, macroeconomic statistics
  • Present research topics: international comparison of income levels and wage shares; terms-of-trade and national income
  • Some former research topics: public finance and inflation, public debt and seigniorage, macroeconomic effects of capital inflows, trade policy and external economic liberalization, international price and cost comparisons; nominal and real economic convergence of the new member states of the EU, accession to the Eurozone, the measurement of FDI-flows.

Appointments:

  • 2014-:    Kopint-Tárki, Scientific advisor
  • 2010-:    Institute of Economics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences; senior research fellow
  • 2012-2014: ELTE University, Department of Economics; senior research fellow
  • 2009-2010: Member of the Fiscal Council, Republic of Hungary
  • 2002-2009: Member of the Monetary Council, National Bank of Hungary
  • 2000-2002: Chairman of the Board, Kopint-Datorg Institute, Budapest
  • 1995-2000: Research director, Kopint-Datorg Institute
  • 1986-1993: Head of research department, Kopint-Datorg Institute
  • 1975-1986: Research fellow, Kopint Institute

Abroad:

  • 1994: Economic Affairs Officer, UN Economic Commission for Europe, Geneva (DEAP) (11 months)
  • 1992: National Bank of Finland, guest scholar (3 months)
  • 1989: TThe Brookings Institution, guest scholar (3 months)
  • 1982: Helsinki School of Economics, guest scholar (3 months)

Participation in international projects:

2012 –:   EU FP7 project: Growth – Innovation – Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe (GRINCOCH). Subproject in WP2: International comparison of export price and unit labour cost levels in Central-Eastern Europe

2002:     Institute for Advanced Studies (on Hungary’s international competitiveness)

2000 – 2001: External Liberalization, Distribution and Growth. Project supported by the Ford Foundation

1999:     SAPRI project of the World Bank on trade liberalization in Hungary

1997 – 1998: PHARE project on fiscal statistics in Hungary

1997:     Project of IIASA on capital inflows in Eastern Europe

Ongoing Hungarian projects:

2017: Productivity and structural changes: experiences in Hungary and in the member-states of the
EU (supported by a fund of the Hungarian government)

Teaching experience:

  • 2010 –:     Macroeconomic statistics (ELTE University)
  • 2013 – 2014: International Finance and International Economic Relations (ELTE University)
  • 2005 – 2006: Corvinus University, Budapest, Department of Macroeconomics (courses on macroeconomic statistics)
  • 1996 – 1998: International trade policy (Central European University, Budapest, Department of Economics)

Other professional activities:

Previous:

  • 2010 – 2016: Elected delegate of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  • 2003 – 2010: A Statisztikai Szemle szerkesztőbizottságának tagja
  • 2002 – 2007: Member of the Presidium, Hungarian Economic Society
  • 1999 – 2003: Chairman, Economic Section of the Hungarian Statistical Society
  • 1998 – 2001: Chairman, Supervisory Board, Eximbank, Budapest

Present:

  • Member of the Committee on Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  • Member of the Committee on Financial Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  • Member of the Editorial Board of the journal Külgazdaság (Foreign Economy)

Policy advice, consulting:

  • 1998 – 2002: Member of the Economic advisory board of the Prime Minister
  • 1999 – 2002: Member of the Economic advisory board of the Minister for the Economy
  • 1996 – 1997: Member of the Economic advisory board of the Minister of Finance
  • 1990 – 1991: Head, Committee on Convertibility of the Hungarian Blue Ribbon Commission

Awards and honors:

  • 2001: Kaldor Price (Corvinus University)
  • 2002: Fényes Elek Price (Hungarian Statistical Office)

Some invited talks and presentations for international audience:

WIIW: (The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies): The Kaldor-paradox: a reappraisal. Vienna, January 2017

Corvinus University, Budapest: Revisiting the Kaldor-paradox. Presentation at the conference “Economic Growth and Social Equity – Nicholas Kaldor’s legacy in the 21st century”. Budapest, September 2016

CASE Institute, Warsaw: Macroeconomic developments and economic policy in Hungary, 2010-2015. March 2016

WIIW: Joining the eurozone: in focus Hungary. November, 2012

WIIW: Hungary’s economic policy. Vienna, 2011

WIIW conference: The International Crisis and Eastern Europe. Vienna, March 2009

EU (DG Ecfin) conference on Hungary: How to raise Hungary’s potential growth? Brussels; December 2008

DGINS conference (Conference of Directors of European Statistical Offices,): Globalisation and Economic Statistics. Budapest, September 2007

Austrian Central Bank (ÖNB): Economic Convergence of the New Member States. Vienna, June 2007

WIIW: Hungary’s International Competitiveness. Vienna, October 2006

Selected publications in English:
The full list is available at: MTMT

Books, Book chapters:

Internal Regulation of Foreign Trade with Respect to Socialist Trading Partners: a Comparison of the Finnish and Hungarian Systems. In: Marrese, M. – Richter, S. (eds.): The Challenge of Simultaneous Economic Relations with East and West. McMillan, 1990.

Unresolved Issues of Comecon Trade in Convertible Currencies. In: Csaba, L. (ed.): Systemic Change and Stabilization in Eastern Europe. Dartmouth Press, Aldershot, Brookfield, USA, 1991.

Hungary’s Foreign Debt: Controversies and Problems. In: Newbery, D – I. Székely (eds): Hungary: an Economy in Transition. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Real Exchange Rate Changes and Exchange Rate Policy under Economic Transition in Hungary and Central Eastern Europe. In: Gács, J. – G. Winkler, (eds.): International Trade and Restructuring in Eastern Europe. IIASA, Laxemburg, 1993.

Capital inflows to Hungary in 1995-96 and the accompanying policy responses. In: J. Gács – R. Holzmann – M. Wyzan (eds.): The mixed blessing of Financial Inflows – Transition countries in Comparative Perspective. .Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1999.

Opening Up The Hungarian Economy: Conditions and Consequences of Liberalizing Trade and Capital Flows in Hungary. In: Lance Taylor (ed.): External Liberalization, in Asia, Post-Socialist Europe and Brazil. Oxford University Press, 2006.

The share and volume of services in member states of the EU: an expenditure-side analysis. In: Ganz W, Kicherer F, Schletz A (ed.) RESER 2011 – Productivity of services next gen – beyond output/input: conference proceedings. Hamburg, Németország, 2011.09.07-2011.09.10. Hamburg: Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, pp. 1-19.(ISBN:978-3-8396-0298-0) (with Éva Palócz)

Articles:

Stabilization and Foreign Economic Policy in Hungary. Acta Oeconomica, 1991. No 1-2. (With A. Köves)

The Terms of Trade Effects from the Elimination of State Trading in Soviet-Hungarian Trade. Journal of Comparative Economics, 1992. No 1 (March). (With David Tarr)

The Limits, Successes and Question Marks of Import Liberalization in Hungary. Russian and East European Finance and Trade, 1992 Summer.

Macroeconomic Developments in Hungary between 1990 and 1994. The Hungarian Quarterly, 1994 Summer.

Macroeconomic effects of Fiscal Deficits in Hungary. Russian and East European Finance and Trade, 1996. No 3.

Review article on Currency Crises in Emerging Markets” by Darowski, M. (Ed.), Economic Systems, December, 2003

On the interpretation and international comparison of external imbalances. WIIW Monthly Report 2006 No. 7.

Globalization and macroeconomic statistics: Problems of measurement, interpretation and comparison. Hungarian Statistical Review, 2007/11 (Special number) 2

Hungary’s price and wage level in international comparison: are they rally disconnected?. Hungarian Statistical Review, vol. 93, no. Special No. 19., pp. 3–21, 2015.

FDI flows and reinvested earnings: statistical measurement, perceptions and economic interpretation. Hungarian Statistical Review, vol. 95, no. Special Number 21, pp. 48–77, 2017.

Labor shares in the old and new EU member states – sectoral effects and the role of relative prices. Economic C Modelling, 90 pp. 254-272. , 19 p. (2020). (With I. Kónya and J. Krekó)

Economic growth and real exchange rate misalignments in the European Union. Acta Oeconomica, 70, No. 3 pp. 297-332. , 36 p. (2020). (With J. Krekó)

Working papers:

Accumulation of Foreign Debt and Macroeconomic Problems of Debt Management: Hungary’s case. KOPINT-DATORG Discussion Papers No.1, 1992.

Sustainable Forint Convertibility for Hungary. Policy Study Commissioned by the Blue Ribbon Commission. Indianapolis and Budapest, 1992. (With Paul Marer)

Interpreting and Implementing Currency Convertibility in Central and Eastern Europe: A Hungarian Perspective. Review of Economies in Transition. 1993 No 2. The Bank of Finland, Helsinki

Macroeconomic Policy, Liberalisation and Transition: Hungary’s Case. Centre for Social and Economic Research. Warsaw. December, 1993. (With Ákos Valetinyi)

The Regional Role of the Former Soviet Union and the CMEA: a Net Assessment. KOPINT-DATORG Discussion Papers, September 1994. (Originally published in the “Green Book” for the US Congress) (With A. Köves.)

Economic Growth and Fiscal Crisis in Central and Eastern Europe. The Vienna Institute for Comparative Economic Studies (WIIW), Research Report No. 218, May 1995.

Interpreting and Measuring Seigniorage: Hungary’s Case. Kopint-Datorg Discussion Papers No. 58. August, 1999. (With András Sebestyén)

Liberalisation of Imports in Hungary: Alternative Proposals, Conditions, Consequences and the Role of the World Bank. Paper prepared for the World Bank in the framework of theme No. 2. of the Hungarian SAPRI Project. Budapest, June, 2000.

Opening up the Hungarian Economy. (Conditions and Consequences of Liberalizing Trade and Capital Flows in Hungary). Paper prepared in the framework of the Ford Foundation project “External Liberalization, Distribution, and Growth”. June, 2001.

Managing Capital Flows in Hungary. Paper prepared in the framework of the ICEG project: “Managing Capital Flows in the Transition Economies of Central and Eastern Europe”. October, 2001. (With Gy. Barabás)

Macroeconomic and Sectoral Aspects of Hungary’s International Competitiveness and Trade Performance on EU Markets. WIIW Research Report, September 2002. (With S. Richter).

The policy environment shaping public expenditures and the composition of social expenditures in the European Union. Study commissioned by the UNICEF. February 2009. (with Ágnes Hárs.)

Unit values, unit labor costs and trade performance in four Central European Countries. Research paper prepared in the framework of the FP7 project: Growth – Innovation – Competitiveness: Fostering Cohesion in Central and Eastern Europe (GRINCOH); WP2.1. March 2013. (With Balázs Muraközy, Gábor Békés, Zsuzsa Munkácsi).

Economic convergence and structural change in the new member states of the European Union: convergence in volumes, prices and the share of services, with implications for wage convergence: an expenditure-side analysis. Budapest, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2015) , 94 p. (With: Éva Palócz, Dávid Popper and Ákos Valetinyi)

Economic policy and macroeconomic developments in Hungary, 2010–2015. CASE Working Papers, Warsaw, 2016, 41 p.

FDI-flows and reinvested earnings: measurement, perceptions and pitfalls in interpretation. Budapest, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2017), 33 p.

Economic convergence and exchange rate misalignments in the European Union. Budapest, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2018), 95 p. (With J. Krekó)

Labor shares in the EU: sectoral effects and the role of relative prices. Budapest, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2019, 48 p. (With I. István Kóny and J. Krekó)