Daniela Weber
Senior Research Scholar
Health, Ageing and Health Systems Research Group
Population and Just Societies Program
Biography
Daniela Weber is a senior research scholar in the Health, Ageing and Health Systems (H2A) Research Group of the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program and an assistant professor of health economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her research examines healthy ageing from a life-course and interdisciplinary perspective, integrating health economics, demography, and social statistics.Her work revolves around cognitive and physical functioning, as well as mental health, in ageing populations, with a particular focus on gender, education, and socioeconomic inequalities across countries. A central theme of her research is the role of living conditions, education, and labor market participation in shaping health trajectories at older ages, including gender differences in cognition, the health consequences of changes in social and economic roles (e.g., retirement), and inequalities in long-term care use. Her work informs policy debates related to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those on health, gender equality, and sustainable ageing societies, and spans both European and global contexts, including low- and middle-income countries. Her research draws on comparative and longitudinal population data to generate policy-relevant insights into inequalities in ageing across countries and life-course contexts.
Weber holds degrees in Technical Mathematics from TU Wien and in Statistics from the University of Vienna, and earned her PhD from the Vienna University of Economics and Business with a dissertation titled, An International Perspective on Aging and Cognitive Decline.
Last update: 08 JAN 2026
Publications
Skirbekk, V., Bordone, V., & Weber, D. (2014). A cross-country comparison of math achievement at teen age and cognitive performance 40 years later. Demographic Research 31 (4) 105-118. 10.4054/DemRes.2014.31.4.
Weber, D. & Skirbekk, V. (2014). The Educational Effect on Cognitive Functioning: National versus Individual Educational Attainment. IIASA Interim Report. IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: IR-14-008
Skirbekk, V., Stonawski, M., & Weber, D. (2013). Could nations invest in cognitive skills and become effectively younger? SAGW Bulletin 1/2013, Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bern, Switzerland pp.48-49 (January 2013)
Bordone, V. & Weber, D. (2012). Number of children and cognitive abilities in later life. In: Vienna Yearbook of Population Research. pp. 95-126 Vienna, Austria: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. 10.1553/populationyearbook2012s95.
Skirbekk, V., Loichinger, E., & Weber, D. (2012). Variation in cognitive functioning as a refined approach to comparing aging across countries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 109 (3) 770-774. 10.1073/pnas.1112173109.