1936 J. Sigfrid Edström introduces the idea of starting a research institute to the Federation of Swedish Industry (Sveriges Industriförbund, SI) and the Swedish Employers’ Confederation (Svenska Arbetsgivareföreningen, SAF).
1939 The Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research (Industriens Utredningsinstitut, IUI) is founded with Ivar Anderson as president and Edström as chairman of the board.
1940 Ragnar Sundén is named president of IUI.
1941 IUI publishes its first publication, The Swedish Economy during the War-Time Blockade I (Vår folkförsörjning i avspärrningstider I). Ingvar Svennilson assumes the post of president.
1942 IUI hires its first female researchers, Elisabet Wiberg and Bitti von Vegesack.
1943 IUI is described as a research institute in a publication released in connection with Edström’s departure as chairman. Ernst Wehtje becomes IUI’s new chairman of the board.
1944 The report Industrial Employment in the Immediate Post-War Years (Industriens sysselsättning under åren närmast efter kriget is published. The report was IUI’s first large public assignment and a forerunner to future undertakings for the governmental Swedish medium-term surveys (långtidsutredningarna).
1946 Folke Kristensson’s Studies of the Structure of the Swedish Textile Industry (Studier i svenska textila industriers struktur) is published. In addition to being IUI’s first dissertation, it made Kristensson Sweden’s first recipient of a doctorate in economics. Sven Lundberg becomes chairman of the board.
1947 Sven Schwartz becomes chairman of the board.
1948 IUI publishes Sweden’s first econometric study, Cyclical Sensitivity of the Swedish Forestry Industry During the Inter-War Period (Den norrländska skogsnäringens konjunkturkänslighet under mellankrigsperioden) by Erik Ruist and Ingvar Svennilson. It is also the last report released as part of the Norrland Inquiry (Norrlandsutredningen), IUI’s most extensive research project to date.
1949 IUI 10 years, an article from Industria. Erik Dahmén is named president of IUI.
1950 Erik Dahmén publishes one of Sweden’s most groundbreaking dissertations in economics, Entrepreneurship in Sweden: 1919–1939 (Svensk industriell företagarverksamhet 1919–1939). Marcus Wallenberg becomes chairman of the board.
1951 Jonas Nordenson is named president of IUI.
1953 Jan Wallander is named president of IUI.
1957 Ragnar Bentzel publishes IUI’s large study of consumption, Private Consumption in Sweden 1931–1965 (Den privata konsumtionen i Sverige 1931–65).
1958 Jan Wallander publishes the much-discussed Studies of the Motoring Economy (Studier i bilismens ekonomi).
1961 Ragnar Bentzel is named president of IUI.
1962 Erik Höök defends his pioneering dissertation The Expansion of the Public Sector: A Study of the Development of Public Civil Expenditures in the Years 1913–1958 (Den offentliga sektorns expansion – En studie av de offentliga civila utgifternas utveckling åren 1913–58).
1964 Bengt Höglund and Lars Werin publish The Production System of the Swedish Economy – An Input-Output Study, the first IUI report to be published in English. Göran Albinsson publishes The Economic Role of Advertising (Reklamens ekonomiska roll), the best-selling IUI publication ever.
1966 Lars Nabseth is named president of IUI. Odd Gulbrandsen and Assar Lindbeck publish IUI’s most controversial report, Objectives and Means of Agricultural Policy (Jordbrukspolitikens mål och medel).
1973 Lars Wohlin is named president of IUI. He is the head author of the report Swedish Industry 1972–1977 (Svensk industri 1972–1977), the last of IUI’s long-time engagement as compiler of the governmental Swedish long-term reports.
1975 Marcus Wallenberg departs as chairman of the board after 25 years at the post, and is named the institute’s honorary chairman. Erland Waldenström becomes chairman of the board.
1976 Wohlin presents IUI’s first self-published medium-term survey (långtidsbedömning), Routes of Development for the Swedish Economy Through 1980 (IUI:s långtidsbedömning 1976 – Utvecklingsvägar för svensk ekonomi fram till 1980). Gunnar Eliasson is named president of IUI. Siv Gustafsson becomes the first female IUI researcher to publish a dissertation at the institute, titled Salary Formation and Salary Structure in the State Sector (Lönebildning och lönestruktur inom den statliga sektorn).
1979 Birgitta Swedenborg's The Multinational Operations of Swedish Firms becomes the first IUI dissertation to be published at a foreign institution of higher learning (University of California, Los Angeles).
1983 The concept of tax wedges is introduced in Jan Södersten’s and Thomas Lindberg’s report, Corporate Taxation: Sweden in Comparison with the United Kingdom, USA and West Germany (Skatt på bolagskapital – Sverige i jämförelse med Storbritannien, USA och Västtyskland).
1985 Curt Nicolin becomes chairman of the board.
1993 IUI publishes its last medium-term survey, The Long Road: The Limits and Possibilities of Economic Policy in Guiding Sweden out of the Crisis of the 1990s (Den långa vägen – Den ekonomiska politikens begränsningar och möjligheter att föra Sverige ur 1990-talets kris). Håkan Mogren becomes chairman of the board.
1994 Ulf Jakobsson is named president of IUI.
1998 Ulf Jakobsson is appointed chairman of the Council of Economic Experts of the Swedish Centre for Business and Policy Studies (SNS Konjunkturråd) and leads the research behind the report The Entrepreneur in the Welfare State (Företagaren i välfärdssamhället). IUI researchers Pontus Braunerhjelm, Stefan Fölster and Magnus Henrekson are also members of the Council.
1999 IUI establishes a research group led by Lars Persson and John Stennek that studies the driving forces behind mergers, particularly international mergers, and their impact on the welfare state.
2000 IUI arranges its first so-called IFN Stockholm Conference (Vaxholmskonferens) where leading researchers from the entire world present research of great relevance for the development of trade and industry.
2003 Björn Hägglund becomes chairman of the board.
2005 Magnus Henrekson is named president of IUI.
2006 IUI changes its Swedish name to Institutet för Näringslivsforskning, abbreviated IFN (the English name the Research Institute of Industrial Economics remains unchanged). The institute’s first newsletter is published with the latest news from the front line of current research. Three new research programs are established: Globalization and Corporate Restructuring, Economics of the Service Sector, and Economics of Entrepreneurship.
2007 The research program Economics of Electricity Markets is established.
2008 IFN becomes a partner in the research prize Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research.
2009 The institute celebrates its 70th anniversary with a special anniversary seminar and the publication of the book IFN/IUI 1939-2009: Seven Decades of Research on an Industrial Sector in Evolution (IFN/IUI 1939–2009 Sju decennier av forskning om ett näringsliv i utveckling). A summary of the main findings: “Perspectives on the Success and Early History of the Industrial Institute for Economic and Social Research (IUI)”. History of Economic Ideas 19(1), 125–146.
2011 Michael Treschow becomes chairman of the board.
2013 The research program Economics of Institutions and Culture is established.
2014 IFN organizes a seminar on the occasion of the 75th anniversary celebration, and publishes 3 books about the history of IUI/IFN.
2019 Staffan Bohman becomes the chairman of the board. IFN turns 80, which is celebrated with the publishing of two historical books about IUI/IFN, as well as a well-attended anniversary seminar.
2020 Fredrik Sjöholm becomes CEO of the institute.
2023 The research program Taxation and Society is established.