CREI - Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional

What CREI - Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional does

CREI (Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional) is a non-profit research institute established in 1984 and based at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) campus in Barcelona, Spain. It conducts academic research in international economics and macroeconomics, with focus areas covering economic growth, business cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, and economic geography. The institute is jointly sponsored by the Generalitat de Catalunya and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and operates as an academic unit of the Barcelona School of Economics (BSE), with close ties to UPF's Department of Economics.

CREI's core outputs are academic rather than commercial: a working paper series spanning 1991 to 2026, publications in top-tier journals including American Economic Review, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of Political Economy, and Econometrica, alongside seminars, the annual Barcelona CREI Macroeconomics Summer School, the CREI Lectures in Macroeconomics series, and the Bojos per l'economia! educational outreach program. The institute's research faculty comprises 14 senior researchers (including ICREA Research Professors and BSE-affiliated professors), 16 associate researchers from the UPF community, and 16 visiting researchers at a time drawn from Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Chicago Booth, Stanford, and Dartmouth.

The institute employs a small administrative and management team (3 staff listed) and is governed by a Board of Trustees with representation from both sponsoring institutions. CREI does not sell commercial products or services; its revenue model is public-academic sponsorship with no disclosed financials, no venture or private equity participation, and no consumer pricing structure. The organization's mission is to advance understanding of economic forces to inform policy and institutional design, promote economic growth, and raise welfare.

Name

CREI - Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional

Legal name

Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional (CREI)

Website

https://crei.cat

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CREI is a non-profit research institute in Barcelona, founded in 1984, specializing in international economics and macroeconomics. Sponsored by the Generalitat de Catalunya and Universitat Pompeu Fabra, it serves as an academic unit of the Barcelona School of Economics, producing research, working papers, and educational programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Barcelona, Barcelona

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CREI is a non-profit academic research institute that conducts and disseminates scholarly research in international economics and macroeconomics, including economic growth, business cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, and economic geography. Its deliverables consist of a long-running working paper series, peer-reviewed journal publications, seminars, workshops, conferences, the Barcelona CREI Macroeconomics Summer School, and the CREI Lectures in Macroeconomics. The institute does not sell commercial products or services; its outputs are provided to the academic and research community.

Product overview

CREI - Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional is a research institute focused on international economics and macroeconomics, encompassing economic growth, business cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, and economic geography. The institute does not offer commercial products or services; its offerings consist of academic research outputs including working papers, publications, seminars, workshops, conferences, and educational programs such as the Barcelona CREI Macroeconomics Summer School and CREI Lectures in Macroeconomics.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CREI Working Papers Series Open-access working paper series covering research in international economics, macroeconomics, economic growth, business cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, and economic geography, intended for the academic and research community.
• Barcelona CREI Macroeconomics Summer School Annual summer school program in macroeconomics for graduate students and researchers, hosted at CREI in Barcelona.
• CREI Lectures in Macroeconomics Named lecture series in macroeconomics featuring leading economists, organized by CREI for the academic community.
• CREI-UPF Macroeconomics Seminars
• Bojos per l'economia!

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Generalitat de CatalunyacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors CREI as a research institute; represented on the Governing Board with the President position held by Nuria Montserrat Pulido, consellera de Recerca i Universitats.
• Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsors CREI; CREI is located at UPF campus; Vicepresident position on Governing Board held by Laia de Nadal Clanchet, rectora of UPF.
• Barcelona School of Economics (BSE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCREI is an academic unit of BSE; collaborates with BSE in many research and teaching activities; researchers hold affiliated professor positions at BSE.
• Department of Economics at UPFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCREI is close to and collaborates with the Department of Economics at UPF for research and teaching activities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Peterson Institute for International Economics: US-based research institute dedicated to international economics with strong macroeconomics and policy focus. Closely comparable mandate and research output style.
• CEMFI: Spanish economics research center in Madrid with closely overlapping focus on monetary economics, macroeconomics, and finance. Directly comparable as a Southern European academic economics institute.
• IFS - Institute for Fiscal Studies: UK-based independent economics research institute focused on microeconomics, macroeconomics, and public policy. Comparable academic research model and policy influence role.
• IGIER - Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research: Bocconi University's economics research institute with comparable focus on macroeconomics and international economics. Similar academic sponsorship model and top-tier journal output.
• IIES - Institute for International Economic Studies: Stockholm University's research institute dedicated to international economics and macroeconomics. Highly comparable mandate, scale, and research focus.
• Toulouse School of Economics (TSE): Leading European economics research institute with similar focus on macroeconomics and international economics. Comparable academic standing and top-tier journal output make it one of CREI's closest institutional peers.
• IZA Institute of Labor Economics: Bonn-based research institute with primary focus on labor economics but significant macroeconomics and policy research output. Comparable academic research structure and policy influence model.

Broad incumbents

• NBER - National Bureau of Economic Research: US-based broad economics research organization with a much wider scope across all economics subfields. Includes macroeconomics and international economics as major programs, providing benchmark global reference.
• Barcelona School of Economics (BSE): Broader academic consortium that CREI is an academic unit of. Wider portfolio of research, master's, and PhD programs in economics; provides institutional context but is not a direct like-for-like research-only peer.
• CEPR - Centre for Economic Policy Research: European-wide economics research network facilitating collaboration among researchers. Related as an ecosystem enabler and convener of research in macroeconomics and international economics.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/crei-research-economics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CREI - Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional