We are pleased to announce that Professor Olavi Kangas has joined us as a new Visiting Fellow.

Professor Kangas is currently Professor of Practice in the Department of Social Research at the University of Turku, and Director of the Equal Society Research Programme at the Academy of Finland.

He was previously Director of Governmental Relations (2015 - 2018) and Research Director (2007 - 2014) at the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. From 2004 - 2006 he was Professor at the Danish Institute for Social Research and, from 1994 - 2003, Professor of Social Policy at the University of Turku.

His research interests revolve around the comparative political economy of the welfare state, and he is one of the leading designers of Finland’s experiment with basic income. His is a co-editor with Stefan Olafsson, Mary Daly and Joakim Palme of “Welfare and the Great Recession”, published by Oxford University Press.

During his time at the IPR, Professor Kangas will continue his research on, and evaluation of, the Finnish basic income experiment, and collaborate with academic colleagues across the University from both the IPR and Department of Social and Policy Sciences.