Franz Wirl worked after completing his study (a diploma in mathematics) at the Secretariat of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for six years before returning to academia. He held a chair on Industry, Energy and Environment at the University of Vienna and is currently Professor Emeritus and senior research fellow. He has extensively published in the fields of energy, environmental and managerial economics in the leading journals of energy and environmental economics and in many other economic journals. He has also published three books, one on regulation, two on energy conservation, and has delivered many presentations complement to more than 200 published journal articles. Frnaz Wirl leads the Handelsblatt rankings of professors in management science in Austria, Germany and Switzerland for in 2009, 2012 and in 2014.