As early as the mid-1950s, those responsible at the ifo Institute pursued the foundation of a legally independent “Fördergesellschaft” (society of friends). To this day, the “Society for the Promotion of Economic Research (Friends of the ifo Institute) e.V.” supports the work of the ifo Institute in many areas, including the promotion of young talent and the transfer of ifo knowledge to business and society. Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Deputy Director Stefan Keitel, and Deputy and Treasurer Alexander Liegl have been determining the work of the Friends of the ifo Institute since 2024.
Foundation in Düsseldorf
In the second half of 1955, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the ifo Institute, Ludwig Kastl, and ifo Board member Eduard Werlé agreed on the need for a “society of friends”. They contacted high-ranking business representatives, including Wilhelm Bötzkes, CEO of Industriekreditbank AG in Düsseldorf. The inaugural meeting of the “Gemeinnützigen Gesellschaft zur Förderung von wirtschafts- und sozialwissenschaftlichen Testverfahren” (Non-Profit Society for the Promotion of Economic and Social Test Procedures) took place on October 28, 1957. The founding members were 23 institutions, mainly companies, but also associations and the Düsseldorf Chamber of Industry and Commerce. Heinrich Kost, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Rheinpreußen AG, became the first Chairman of the Management Board.
Promoting the ifo Test Procedures
“The purpose of the association is to promote economic and social science testing procedures,” according to the founding by-laws. These were the economic tests carried out by the Institute from the very beginning and the investment test added in 1954. “The possibilities offered by this procedure are by no means exhausted. We are of the opinion that the ifo Institute should not be exclusively dependent on public funding to intensify and expand the procedures,” says the letter of invitation to the inaugural meeting. From 1958 to 1965, a total of around DM 750,000, between DM 80,000 and 100,000 annually, could be used for the stated purposes. The society of friends also wanted to establish a lively exchange of ideas between the members of the society and the ifo researchers. The latest research findings were discussed. Science benefited from suggestions from business practice.
New headquarters of the “ifo Friends”
The successor to the Society’s first CEO, Heinrich Kost, was appointed in 1970: Ernst Wolf Mommsen, State Secretary in the Ministry of Defense under the government of Helmut Schmidt and Chairman of the Executive Board of Krupp AG. Under his chairmanship, the funding was to be used, alongside supporting the test procedures, for non-profit activities of the ifo Institute. The registered office of the society was moved from Düsseldorf to Munich and the name was changed to “Gesellschaft zur Förderung der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Forschung” (Society for the Promotion of Economic Research). The funding objectives were further specified in 1988. Previously, part of the funds had also been used to “combat fluctuation” in order to attract applicants and retain proven employees at the ifo Institute. The ifo Executive Board and Board of Trustees of the Friends now decided to promote the further training of employees, but also to support them with funds for the IT infrastructure.
The Simon Villa
In view of its constantly growing space requirements, the Executive Board of the ifo Institute had expressed interest early on in the villa on the neighboring property at Poschingerstrasse 5. The house and property at Mauerkircherstrasse 35 were owned by Hans Georg Simon, who had a doctorate in economics and had inherited the property from his parents. He rented rooms in his house to the ifo Institute from 1956. In 1980, the ifo Institute acquired the villa on the condition that Hans Georg Simon would have a lifelong right of residence on the top floor. The purchase agreement was concluded after further negotiations in 1984. In 1984 and 1985, the Friends of the ifo assumed the costs for the purchase and renovation of the villa with a sum of over DM 500,000, a quarter of the total costs.
Leading minds and the Roland Berger era
Joachim Zahn, a member of the Board of Management of Daimler Benz AG until 1979, became a member of the Executive Board of the Friends of the ifo Institute in July 1980, as successor to Ernst Wolf Mommsen, who died in 1979. After his departure, Klaus Götte, longstanding member of the Board of Management of Allianz Versicherung AG, was elected Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board in 1989. MAN CFO Count Ferdinand von Ballestrem took over from 1999 to 2007. On January 17, 2007, the Board of Trustees elected Roland Berger, founder of a leading global management consultancy, as Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Board. Through his personal commitment, he succeeded in winning over additional companies and leading figures from the business world as members of the Friends of the ifo Institute. The Society developed into an important meeting place for influential personalities from the business world who were looking for a high-caliber, scientifically supported exchange on fundamental economic and financial policy issues. Roland Berger remained in office until 2023, making him the longest-serving Chairman of the Executive Board and Board of Trustees in the history of ifo Friends.
Focus on science
Around the turn of the millennium, the focus in allocating funding was increasingly on scientific purposes, such as co-financing posts as doctoral students, involving renowned external scientists as research directors of the ifo Institute, and awarding prizes for outstanding academic achievements. This change was a sign that the Society of Friends supported the critical situation in which the ifo Institute found itself after the evaluation in the second half of the 1990s with strong backing and made a significant contribution to the reorientation during that time.
In 2002, the ifo Society of Friends awarded an annual prize for the first time for outstanding academic achievements that could be published in one of the world’s leading academic journals.
The friends today
The exchange of knowledge and experience now takes place as part of an annual joint strategy meeting, hosted by members of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Friends. The information and suggestions gained, and the involvement of this high-ranking group in the Institute’s events are particularly valuable for the ifo Institute. In 2024, the Society of Friends of the ifo Institute has around 85 members, 47 of whom are members of the Board of Trustees. Paul-Bernhard Kallen, longstanding CEO and current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hubert Burda Media Holding, has been Chairman of the Executive Board since 2024. His deputies are the bank manager and entrepreneur Stefan Keitel and Alexander Liegl, lawyer and partner at the international law firm Noerr.
The most important funding objective is the support for young academics. The Friends enable a national and international exchange through travel grants for specialist conferences, for involving guest researchers from all over the world, and through financing lunchtime seminars and workshops in the various ifo research areas. The Society also supports the Institute’s communication activities aimed at presenting the scientific expertise built up at the ifo Institute to different target groups.
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