The Barcelona School of Economics (BSE) is an institute for research and graduate education in economics, finance, data science, and the social sciences located in Barcelona, Spain. The school's academic offer includes Master's degrees as well as summer schools, professional courses, and in-company training. BSE research has been ranked among the top Economics Departments in the world. The school is accredited by the Catalan University Quality Assurance Agency (AQU).

History

Established as the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE), the institution was legally recognized by the Government of Catalonia in October 2006 as a foundation dedicated to higher education. The School was created with the objective to foster scientific cooperation between four existing academic and research units in Barcelona: The School's board of trustees includes both private and public institutions. The school changed its name to Barcelona School of Economics in 2021.

Scientific Council

The BSE Scientific Council works with faculty and administrators to ensure the quality of teaching, research, and admissions procedures. The council is made up of leading academics, including several Nobel Laureates in Economics. The first chair of the Scientific Council was Hugo Sonnenschein (1940–2021), President Emeritus of the University of Chicago, who held the position from 2008 until 2021. Members of the Barcelona School of Economics Scientific Council

Research

One of BSE's main objectives is to make Barcelona a leading community in economics research worldwide.

Research rankings

The Barcelona School of Economics research community constitutes one of the leading clusters of economics research in Europe. It has been ranked by RePEc among the top 15 Economics Departments in the world, the top 5 in Europe, and as the best in Spain.

Severo Ochoa Research Excellence accreditations

In 2011, BSE was distinguished as one of only eight Centers of Research Excellence with an international impact in the framework of the Severo Ochoa Research Excellence Program, which promotes frontier research and distinguish those institutions that are defining the global scientific debate. In 2016, it became the only center focused on economics and the social sciences to receive a second Severo Ochoa distinction. BSE received a third consecutive Severo Ochoa distinction for the period 2020–23.

Research areas

Research activities

The main research activities organized by the Barcelona School of Economics include:

Faculty

Affiliated professors

Affiliated Professors of the Barcelona School of Economics are tenured or tenure-track faculty members from the BSE academic units. Among the affiliated professors there are Fellows of the Econometric Society, Fellows of the European Economic Association, Research Fellows of the Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR), and Research Fellows of CESifo. They publish in the leading journals of Economics and many of the journals of the different subfields of the discipline. They also serve as coeditors and associate editors of these journals. At present there are some 150 affiliated professors, including:

Guest professors

Some of the scholars and professionals who have taught at the Barcelona School of Economics as guest professors are:

Academic programs

The academic programs of the Barcelona School of Economics attract a highly international group of students in several main programs.

Master's degrees

The Barcelona School of Economics offers master's programs leading to three different master's degrees: Master's Degree in Economics and Finance Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis Master's Degree in Data Science

PhD programs

There are two PhD programs in the Barcelona School of Economics community, one at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and one at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Both programs are organized jointly with BSE:

Other academic programs

BSE offers summer school programs, professional courses, and in-company training throughout the year.

Campuses

The Barcelona School of Economics has two campuses: Ciutadella campus (UPF) and Bellaterra campus (UAB).