About Us

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:

Universitat Pompeu Fabra— Department of Economics and Business

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona — Unit of Economic Analysis

Institute for Economic Analysis

Centre for Research in International Economics

The School's board of trustees includes both private and public institutions.

The school changed its name to Barcelona School of Economics in 2021.

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.