CEEC-HF

Central and Eastern European Center

for

Household Finance

Welcome to the Central and Eastern European Center for Household Finance (CEEC-HF)!

Dr. Zsuzsa R. Huszár

Founder, Head of CEEC - HF

Our mission is to provide rigorous academic insights about vital household finance issues to aid policy makers to improve the life of citizens and residents in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Under the broad umbrella of growing living standard concerns, we aim to focus on the housing conditions, housing affordability, retirement planning, gender and racial equality, and sustainability topics.

We bring together passionate researchers from diverse fields such as economics, finance, mathematics, and social sciences to drive impactful change and improve lives. Join us in our collaborative effort to grow together, create a better future, with more targeted policy planning, financial education, and sustainable living in the region.

Our mission is to provide rigorous academic insights about vital household finance issues to aid policy makers to improve the life of citizens and residents in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Under the broad umbrella of growing living standard concerns, we aim to focus on the housing conditions, housing affordability, retirement planning, gender and racial equality, and sustainability topics.

We bring together passionate researchers from diverse fields such as economics, finance, mathematics, and social sciences to drive impactful change and improve lives. Join us in our collaborative effort to grow together, create a better future, with more targeted policy planning, financial education, and sustainable living in the region.

The Central and Eastern European Center for Household Finance (CEEC-HF) aim to serve as a coordinating research platform for high-quality, policy-relevant academic research on household financial behaviour, economic decision-making, and institutional design in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.

The core function of the Center is to:

Organise and structure regional research collaboration in household finance,
Facilitate joint research projects and international publications,
Provide an institutional platform for competitive grant applications, and
Connect academic research with policy-relevant questions faced by transition and emerging economies.

To ensure clarity, coherence, and scalability, we operate with a four-pillar research structure., allowing focused thematic research while maintaining strong integration across topics that jointly shape household financial outcomes.

Study housing markets, quality, affordability and housing wealth dynamics. Data collection focuses on housing supply and quality measures and sale/resale/rent transactions, including discrimination and sustainability concerns.

Study the spread and level of financial education across age groups, demographic change, ageing populations challenges, retirement readiness and pension systems.

Study household-level effects of taxation, transfers, and subsidy schemes. Topics include redistribution, incentive effects, policy targeting, and distributional consequences of fiscal interventions, especially during economic shocks.

Study households' needs and interaction with the financial system: traditional banking, credit markets, financial inclusion, digital finance, and fintech. Focus on access to finance, household risk-taking, financial stability, and retirement/savings products.

The center creation was motivated by a Visegrad grant (#22430088), Housing market & sustainability issues linked to dominance of housing asset in retirement portfolios, (see V4-Housing page). This initiative brought together the core V4 partner teams (see The OGs page for more information on partners).

Our first two Workshops were held April 14-15, 2025 in Budapest and Sept 29-30 in Bratislava, 2025 visit out event page for reflection and future event announcements. We have discuss the growing societal issues related to aging, the housing market, and the environment, while reflecting and celebrating the 25 years history of V4 initiatives.

Overall, our center with a growing team of affiliated researcher and likeminded collaborators plan to foster collaborative research and information sharing on all household related topics:

aging
family planning, childcare
retirement planning
financial education
fiscal policy related to housing
fiscal policy related to family well being
gender equality
housing quality
housing affordability
home financing, mortgages (incl. reverse mortgage solutions)
pension system, private and public pensions
and all other related topics.

Join us in addressing these critical issues and shaping a secure future for all generations in Visegrad 4 countries and in the greater CEEC region. Contact us, if you are interested in collaboration, or to be invited to our next workshop.