Ökonoom

Ökonoom is the Estonian term for an economist, a professional who studies and applies economic theory to explain and predict how individuals, firms and governments make decisions about production, consumption and resource allocation. Ökonoomid analyze markets, prices, incentives and policy effects to understand welfare and growth. In practice, an ökonoom may work in academia, government, business or non-profit sectors, contributing to research, policy advice or strategic planning.

The word ökonoom derives from the field ökonoomia (economics) and ultimately from the Greek oikonomos, meaning steward or manager. In Estonian usage, the field is ökonoomia and the practitioner is an ökonoom; related terms include ökonoomiline as an adjective describing economic analysis or approaches.

Education and training typically include a university degree in economics, econometrics, finance or related disciplines, with many ökonoomid holding master's or doctoral degrees and engaging in ongoing professional development. Proficiency in quantitative methods, statistics and data analysis is common, along with experience in statistical software.

Core tasks for an ökonoom include theoretical and empirical research, data analysis, forecasting, policy evaluation and the communication of findings to decision-makers or the public. Tools often used are statistical software such as R, Stata or Python, along with econometric models and large datasets. The work combines analytical rigor with practical relevance, aiming to inform policy, business strategy or academic understanding.

Subfields include microeconomics, macroeconomics, econometrics, development economics, financial economics and public economics. Ökonoomid work in universities and research institutes, central banks and ministries, international organizations, banks and consulting firms, or corporate analytics divisions.