Martin Kahanec

Martin Kahanec is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Development and Labour, Faculty of Economics and Finance, University of Economics in Bratislava. He concurrently serves as a Professor at the Department of Public Policy and Director of the Shattuck Center for Human Rights at the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna. He previously served as Dean of CEU's School of Public Policy (2017-2019 and 2020-2021) and later as Head of the renamed Department (2021-2023). He is founder and Scientific Director of the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI), Bratislava.

Education: PhD in Economics (2006) from Tilburg University, Netherlands.

Research focuses on economic policy, labor and population economics, migration, EU mobility, integration, ethnicity, inequalities, and labor market reforms. His work addresses migration policy impacts, labor market dynamics, and socioeconomic integration in Europe. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and contributed to policy-oriented research for institutions like the World Bank, European Commission, and OECD.

Awards & Affiliations

• Member of Academia Europaea (since 2016), currently Vice-President and Chair of Social Sciences Class
• Former President of Slovak Economic Association (2016-2018)
• Editorial roles: Associate Editor of International Journal of Manpower, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies; Editorial Board member of Economic Systems and Acta Oeconomica

Policy Engagement

• Member of Slovakia's Government Council for Science, Technology & Innovation
• Former advisor to the Slovak Ministry of Finance during the 2020-21 pandemic crisis
• Advisory roles with the Czech Ministry of Labor and European Union institutions

Institutional Leadership

• Deputy Program Director for Migration at IZA (2007-2016)
• Vice Director of Research at IZA (2009)
• Founding Managing Editor of IZA Journal of European Labor Studies (2012-2016)