Events for the Year 2007

Events for the Year 2007

Conferences, workshops and lunchtime briefings are indicated in RED. Participation is, however, limited. If you would like to obtain more information, please contact our meetings team.

Discussion meetings, however, are open and are indicated in BLUE. Please feel free to attend.

	22/1/2007		Dancing with Giants: China, India and the Global Economy , London
			China is now the world's fourth largest economy and growing very fast. India's economic salience is also on the rise. Together the two countries account for about 37.5% of world population and 6.4% of the value of world output and income at current prices and exchange rates. Together these two countries will profoundly influence the pace and nature of global economic change. Drawing upon the latest research, ‘Dancing with Giants’ analyzes the influences on the rapid future development of these two countries and examines how their growth is likely to impinge upon other countries. L Alan Winters will give a presentation of the findings of this volume and consider international trade, industrialization, foreign investment and capital flows, and the implications of China and India’s broadening environmental footprints. He will also discuss how the two countries have tackled poverty, inequality and governance issues and whether progress in these areas will be a key to rapid and stable growth.

	10/2/2007		Globalization and the Organization of Firms and Markets , Munich
			New developments in the world economy have called for new developments in the theory and empirics of international trade and foreign directed investment, designed to better understand the shifts in trade and investment patterns and the reorganization of production within and across national borders. Organizational change at the level of the firm has been central to the transformation of the world economy. The conference will focus on new research on the individual firm examining its choices in response to its own characteristics, the nature of the industry in which it operates, the nature of competition it is exposed to and the opportunities afforded by foreign trade and investment. Important among these choices are modes of serving foreign markets and sourcing strategies, pattern of trade within and between firms, firms’ exit and entry as well as their organizational responses to a stronger integration into the world economy. The conference will consist of papers covering these recent developments in international trade and foreign direct investment. The contributions to this conference are planned for a book edited by Elhanan Helpman, Dalia Marin, Thierry Verdier.

	12/2/2007		Fifth Euro Area Business Cycle Network Training School: Topics in Econometric Models for Macroeconomics and Finance , Vienna
			The fifth EABCN Training School will be a five-day course on Econometric Models for Macroeconomics and Finance” Professor Carlo Favero of Università Bocconi, will teach the course. It is primarily aimed at participants in the Euro Area Business Cycle Network but applications will also be considered from doctoral students and post-doctoral researchers and economists working for commercial organisations (for which a fee will be charged). The course will consist of five days of lectures (approximately 6 hours per day). The objective is to illustrate how macroeconomics and finance can be integrated in the framework of Present Value models. We shall begin by illustrating how present value models are constructed and why they constitute a framework for integrating macroeconomic information in the determination of asset prices. We shall then illustrate the empirics by considering in turn, the Bond Market, the Stock Market and the relation between Wealth and Consumer Behaviour. Data and draft of the MATLAB and E-VIEWS programme for replication are made available here, as well as a reading list for the discussion. Class notes and codes will be made available before the beginning of the course.

	22/2/2007		Partnerships Between Government and Private Sectors , EBRD, London
			This event continues a series of meetings on the interaction between private and public players in industries and services of public interest. The conference will have a comparative focus in general, and a specific concern about transition and development issues. Among the questions to be discussed are: * How have experiences with privatization, liberalization and PPPs shaped the public view on reforms in general and the political economy of development and transition economies? * What are appropriate mechanisms for the cooperation between private and public players in economies that are subject to large-scale institutional change, weak law enforcement, and high vulnerability to global financial shocks? * How does the organization of government, for instance, decentralisation, affect the efficiency of relationships between private and public players? * What role do international donors and financial institutions have in creating sustainable partnerships between public and private sectors? This list is not exhaustive and we would like to invite submissions on all subjects related to partnership, and broader relationships, between public and private players: theoretical, empirical, case studies; from economics, political science, from the academic world as well as from practitioners. Marie Curie actions focus on developing young researchers, enabling them to present research and benefit from the inputs of senior colleagues and policy-makers. Hence, we are particularly keen to receive submissions from young researchers, who are working on or have recently defended their PhD. The programme will be assembled by a scientific committee composed of Erik Berglöf (EBRD and CEPR), Mathias Dewatripont (ECARES and CEPR), Antonio Estache (World Bank), Guido Friebel (Toulouse and CEPR), Paul Grout (CMPO), and Patrick Legros (ECARES and CEPR).

	2/3/2007		Second Annual Conference on Macroeconomics of Global Interdependence , Dublin
			CEPR and the Institute for International Integration Studies (IIIS) are jointly organizing a one and a half day workshop focusing on global integration and economic interdependence. Papers are being sought that focus on the following topics from the perspective of global integration: · Global imbalances and sustainability of current account deficits · Macroeconomics of exchange rates · Capital flows, international trade and outsourcing · International transmission of shocks · Financial linkages within and across regions · Capital markets: challenges and opportunities for emerging markets · Multilateral institutions for an interdependent world This is the second annual workshop of the new CEPR Working Group on Macroeconomics of Global Interdependence (MGI). MGI aims to encourage academic research on macroeconomic aspects of global integration (broadly defined). Further information on MGI can be found at http://www.cepr.org/mgi or on the wiki at http://wiki.cepr.org/mgi

	9/3/2007		CEPR/Swedish Development Economics Network Conference on Development Economics , Stockholm
			CEPR Development Economics Programme and Swedish Development Economics Network are organizing a joint Conference on Development Economics on 9 and 10 March 2007 in Stockholm. The conference is funded by the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). The goal of the conference is to provide a forum for high quality work in development economics and to bring together economists in the field from across Europe and key researchers from outside the region. Paper proposals are invited in any area of development economics broadly defined. Both theoretical and empirical work is welcome. The organizers will bring together around 30 economists for a period of two days (Friday, 9 March and Saturday, 10 March 2007). To foster the desired interaction we ask that participants stay for the entire duration of the Conference.

	13/3/2007		Bruegel - CEPR Joint Workshop: The Internationalisation of European Firms (TIEF) , Brussels
			This workshop forms part of the joint Bruegel-CEPR project TIEF (The Internalisation of European Firms).

	14/3/2007		The Challenges of Global Capital Market Integration: How Exchange Rates, Policies and Institutions Matter , London
			Global integration of capital markets carries both extreme benefits and risks. However, countries have had very different experiences in harnessing these benefits and minimizing the costs of integration. The narrow view that the less developed and capital scarce countries simply need to open up and attract rich countries’ savings has become obsolete. Liberalizing capital flows is not enough. What else matters then? Exchange rate policy, financial development, prudent macroeconomic policy and deep politico-institutional factors are paramount. These key variables play an important role in determining whether countries experience dramatic and painful financial crises or whether they avoid them and instead maintain a steady infusion of scarce capital from abroad. The latter countries improve their growth prospects and ultimately their living standards. The last 150 years of global capital market integration provide a wealth of empirical evidence which underscores these points.

	20/4/2007		Economic Policy Panel , Frankfurt


	20/4/2007		Financial Contracting: Theory and Evidence. Third Conference of the "European Corporate Governance Training Network" (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Mannheim
			This is the Third meeting of the European Corporate Governance Training Network. The conference aims at bringing together researchers from theory and empirics in the area of applied contract theory in finance. It will be jointly organised by the University of Mannheim, the Journal of Financial Intermediation, the European Corporate Governance Institute, the German National Science Foundation, CEPR and the Center for Financial Studies.

	14/5/2007		European Summer Symposium in International Macroeconomics (ESSIM) 2007 , Izmir, Turkey
			The fifteenth CEPR European Summer Symposium in International Macroeconomics (ESSIM) will take place on 14-19 May 2007. The meeting will be hosted by the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, in Izmir. ESSIM is an annual meeting that brings together about 60 economists from across Europe and key researchers from outside the region. It provides a unique opportunity for macroeconomists from different universities and countries to discuss research in a relaxed atmosphere and to develop long-term collaborative relationships. Another important aim of ESSIM is to provide young researchers with the opportunity to meet and discuss their work with senior economists.

	16/5/2007		Why Developing Countries Need a Greater Voice in the Global Financial Architecture , CEPR, London
			The reform of Financial Architecture to cope with the cross-border financial integration and severe financial crises has focussed on strengthening the institutional and technical policy framework of the developing and emerging markets economies as the weakest links in the system. The evidence that this approach has been successful is very limited. Net capital flows to developing countries remain unstable and limited to a few major emerging markets. This approach has significantly neglected the political underpinnings of financial architecture in terms of legitimacy, with two interrelated aspects to this problem: on the input or decision-making process side, and on the output or policy outcome side. The argument here is that a more inclusive decision-making process, taking account of a broad set of principles of representation in multilateral institutions, is likely to yield outcomes more appropriate to the development needs of poor and emerging market countries. Private corporate interests in developed economies have had greater access to decision-making than e.g. developing IMF member countries. Those who designed it not surprisingly derive the greatest benefit, limiting the legitimacy of what is supposed to be a global system. Asian and Latin American countries are now abandoning the multilateral IFIs in considerable number. Functioning global financial architecture is part of the solution. Reliance on competing national policies risks a cure worse than the disease. If a broader range of interests is represented in the multilateral decision-making process, the content of policy is likely to prove more acceptable to those who are most vulnerable to the problem of instability, and therefore the legitimacy of the architecture itself will increase. A more flexible system preserving the current range of benefits yet improving the prospects of developing countries would result, and more global development obviously means more for all.

	21/5/2007		The Formation and Use of Human Capital and Knowledge , Bergen
			The conference will be organised by Sandra Black (University of California, Los Angeles), Gianni De Fraja (University of Leicester and CEPR), Kai A Konrad (WZB, Berlin and CEPR), Kjell Erik Lommerud (University of Bergen and CEPR), Steve Machin (University College London and CEPR) and Kjell Salvanes (Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration). It will consist of 12-14 paper presentations; submissions of papers are invited before February 17, 2007. Applicants will be informed of the decision to include their paper in the programme by March 7, 2007. We aim for a broad approach to the topic. Empirical and theoretical contributions are equally welcome. A non-exhaustive list of relevant topics is: - The organization of the education system - The returns to education - Family, gender and human capital - Intergenerational transfer of human capital - The use of knowledge in firms and organizations - Skills and the globalization process

	23/5/2007		Fourth CEPR Applied IO School , Tarragona
			This school precedes The Eighth CEPR Conference on Applied IO. PhD students and young researchers will have the opportunity to present their papers. After the school, all participants will have the opportunity to attend the Applied IO conference.

	24/5/2007		Eighth CEPR Conference on Applied Industrial Organization , Tarragona
			In emphasising the importance of the dynamics of economic systems, this series of CEPR conferences on Applied Industrial Organisation aims to move the frontiers of research in the domain of the 'new economy' and the knowledge society, a set of key developments which gathered momentum at the turn of the 21st century. More specifically, the series aims to contribute to an analytical understanding of the issues raised by the new economy and their impacts on the wealth of economies and peoples, develop empirical protocols and tests of economic models, promote the exchange and the dissemination of results at the forefront of research, and finally, re-evaluate current competition and regulation policies.

	25/5/2007		Corporate Finance and Risk Management , Norway
			This conference will be devoted to recent developments in Corporate Finance and Risk Management and will bring together recent research in corporate finance. The organisers particularly welcome submissions in the following areas: · Dynamic corporate finance; · Corporate risk management; · Liquidity management and capital structure; · Finance, investment and firm growth.

	31/5/2007		The CAP at Fifty: An International Perspective , CEPR, London
			The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy is understood even by non-Europeans to have been crucial to the initial re-building of Western Europe after World War II. But its cost in subsequent decades has been enormous not only to EU consumers, taxpayers and non-agricultural industries but also, through its depressing impact on international food prices, to farmers in many other parts of the world. It has soured relations between the EU and its main trading partners, helped prevent the bringing of disciplines to agricultural protection under the GATT, and delayed and diminished the global gains from multilateral trade negotiations. Despite the reforms of 1992 and since 2000, the CAP continues to both dampen incentives for agricultural innovation and frustrate the WTO’s on-going Doha Development Agenda. This new study examines the nominal rate of assistance to farmers since the 1950s relative to assistance to producers of non-farm tradables in the EEC/EC/EU, and then compares that relative rate of assistance time series with similar time series for non-members in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Northeast Asia and Australasia. It shows the CAP to have been extremely distortive in its early decades compared with farm policies in other OECD countries. While that rate of distortion has come down in recent decades, when rates have risen in some other OECD countries, the cost of the CAP has continued to rise because of progressive accessions to the EEC/EC/EU by countries that were mostly less protective prior to joining the common market. The paper concludes with a critical look at the most recent CAP developments. It argues that they may well continue to provide high levels of protection to EU farmers, and in forms (such as via high food safety, animal welfare and environmental standards) that are more opaque, more contentious, and more difficult to negotiate downwards in future WTO negotiations.

	8/6/2007		Financial Crises: Past, Theory, Future , Barcelona
			Financial crises are a recurrent feature in modern economies, and count amongst the most cataclysmic events in modern market economies. There is strong reason to believe that they were as common in the 19th century as they are today. Yet why do they occur much more often in developing countries? Why has the frequency of crises apparently increased? And how did some countries manage to leave the problem behind? This small, two-day conference aims to bring together theorists, applied economists, finance specialists, and economic historians that have worked on causes of financial crises, their key features, and the main policy options that practitioners need to consider. We are interested in banking crises, currency crises, sovereign debt crises, twin crises, and asset market meltdowns. We will consider a wide range of papers for inclusion in the programme. Of particular interest are those that: . Analyse when crises occur and trace their causes, using the modern tools of macroeconomic theory and the theory of international trade and finance. • Empirical papers that draw equally on modern and historical evidence, and aim to confront the theoretical predictions systematically with the key stylized facts. • Papers that explore the political economy of financial crises, and the link between political factors and crisis susceptibility more generally • Theoretical papers that offer novel insights into the mechanisms that drive crisis frequency and severity • Methodological papers, e.g. those that aim to measure contagion correctly, etc. • Historically-oriented papers that establish important stylized facts about financial crises in the past

	18/6/2007		The Timing of Monetary Policy Shocks , London
			A vast empirical literature has documented delayed and persistent effects of monetary policy shocks on output. We show that this finding results from the aggregation of output impulse responses that differ sharply depending on the timing of the shock: 1. When the monetary policy innovation takes place in the first two quarters of the year, the response of output is quick, sizable, and dies out at a relatively fast pace. 2. In contrast, output responds very little when the shock takes place in the third or fourth quarter. We propose a potential explanation for the differential responses based on uneven staggering of wage contracts across quarters. The findings are relevant for policy makers and forecasters, as they imply that the timing of monetary interventions by the Fed matters for the behavior of output and employment.

	19/6/2007		Bruegel - CEPR Joint Workshop: The Internationalisation of European Firms , Brussels
			This workshop forms part of the joint Bruegel-CEPR project TIEF (The Internalisation of European Firms).

	22/6/2007		Globalisation, EMU and the Reshaping of European Economies , Firenze
			Several forces are contributing to reshaping European economies: the Single Market Programme has promoted the removal of internal barriers to trade in goods, services and asset markets; the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is progressing at a fast pace. At a global level the diffusion of ICTs, globalization, and the growth of emerging market economies are rapidly changing the economic environment faced by Europe. How have European countries coped with the challenge of adjusting to these processes? While European economies have become increasingly integrated over the last 15-20 years, there are striking differences in the degree of product and labour market liberalization, the organization and reform of the welfare and public finance systems, the degree of openness to international capital markets. Rates of R&D expenditures and investment in new technologies are far from converging. The workshop organizers welcome submission of theoretical, empirical and policy contributions addressing these issues. The main goal of the workshop is to shed light on the roots of the differences in European countries’ ability to reap the benefits of regional and global economic integration. Contributions in the form of international comparative analysis or case studies, possibly focused on Italy, are welcome. Relevant topics include: · International competitiveness of European countries: trade patterns, price vs. quality competition and industry vs. services. · Product, services and labour markets: performance, institutions and reforms. · Welfare and tax systems: convergence, competition, public sector efficiency · Financial integration and deepening: efficiency of financial system, the contribution to firms’ growth and innovation, households savings and portfolio diversification · Political economy of adjustment: normative and institutional impediments, the role of structural reforms, microeconomic changes and macro performance.

	5/7/2007		CEPR-Banque de France’s Conference on Innovation , Paris
			The conference aim is to present recent theoretical and empirical analysis on various dimensions of innovation which can feed into economic policy. The conference will deal with the links between innovation and productivity, persistence and competition, and will close with a panel, dealing explicitly with policy implications. This joint conference has been set up jointly with CEPR and Banque de France. Participants include academics, central bank economists as well as from other economic and financial institutions.

	13/7/2007		Third Symposium of the European Network for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Mannheim
			The University of Mannheim will be hosting the 3rd European Symposium on Economics and Psychology from July 13 to July 14 supported by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the European Network for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics (ENABLE). The conference is part of ENABLE RTN, funded under the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union. Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 504) is gratefully acknowledged. Organizers: Bruno Biais (Toulouse) Ernst Fehr (Zurich) David Laibson (Harvard) Klaus Schmidt (Munich) Martin Weber (Mannheim) Frans van Winden (Amsterdam) The two day conference bring together approximately 30 scholars from Europe and the US working on the intersection of economics and psychology in a broad sense.

	19/7/2007		Consumption and Interest Rates , London
			Rising interest rates do not seem to have significantly affected consumer spending in the UK: retail sales for the three months to April were 5.4% higher than for the same period in 2006, which is the highest growth since July 2004. The relationship between interest rates and consumption is not straightforward, however: interest rates may affect the behaviour of consumers through a number of channels. Tim Besley will review the empirical evidence on importance of these channels, and discuss the implications for monetary policy in the U.K. Tim Besley is Professor of Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics, and has served on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee since September 2006. He is a CEPR Research Fellow and formerly Co-Director of the Centre's Public Policy Programme. In 2005 he received the Yrjö Jahnsson Prize, awarded to the young European economist who has made an outstanding contribution in theoretical and applied research of significance to economics in Europe.

	24/7/2007		Public Sector Output and Efficiency: Measurement, Incentives and Performance , London


	30/7/2007		Second Summer School of the Network “Unifying European Experience: Lessons of Pan-European Development” (Marie Curie Training Network) , Tartu, Estonia
			The second Joint Summer School of the GLOBALEURONET Research Networking Programme and the Marie Curie Research Training Network 'Unifying the European Experience' will revisit the sources of economic growth in Europe from the Industrial Revolution to present-day ICT-developments. The Industrial Revolution remains above all a technological event, which economists have thus far poorly explained. The summer school will deal with the question how and why technological progress occurs in a society without organized R&D and how innovation was related to science and craftsmanship, and the role of intellectual property rights. The significance of ideological and institutional developments will be explored. The programme will include two main lectures by invited speakers in the morning, while afternoon will consist of parallel Student Sessions, where Ph.D. and Post-doc students will present and discuss their research papers with more senior scholars and invited guest speakers.

	12/8/2007		Corporate Governance and Capital Markets: 2nd Summer School of the "European Corporate Governance Network" (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Frankfurt
			For one week, young economists from different countries meet with faculty at the Training Center of the Bundesbank for an intensive week of learning and interaction. The faculty will give lectures on topics of current research interest (The role of mergers, acquisitions, restructurings and venture capital and private equity in corporate governance; corporate governance and shareholder value) . In afternoon sessions, the participants will have the opportunity to present their own research and discuss it with the faculty and other participants. In addition, there will be time for broader discussions and exchange of ideas, which may on occasions even lead to new joint projects.

	28/8/2007		CEPR Annual Reception at the EEA-ESEM Congress 2007 , Budapest


	6/9/2007		Eighth EABCN Workshop on 'Changes in Inflation Dynamics and Implications for Forecasting' , Paris
			Recent research on forecasting inflation has increasingly focused on the changes in the inflation process. The workshop will aim to gather papers that are investigating changes in inflation dynamics and inflation expectations as well as the implications of those changes for forecasting inflation. Papers that address the following issues are particularly welcome: a) New developments in understanding inflation dynamics b) Detecting and modelling changes in inflation c) Implications of a changing inflation process for forecasting To foster exchange between academic and policy oriented research, a session is planned on “Issues on inflation forecasting in central banks”. Please indicate submissions that are intended for that session.

	9/9/2007		First Summer School of 'Transnationality of Migrants' (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Lake Garda
			The school intends to provide an intensive training course for Ph.D. students and young researchers who are working in the fields of international economics and development. This year it will focus on the main analytical and empirical approaches to the study of the impact of international migration on the host country. The school is open to 40 students from all countries. Students are expected to attend the school full time. The lecturers are Massimo Livi Bacci of the University of Florence, and Barry Chiswick of the University of Illinois at Chicago, two of the leading experts working in this field. The school is organised as part of the Marie Curie Research Training Network on 'Transnationality of Migrants', which is funded by the European Commission through the Human Resources and Mobility action of its Sixth Framework Programme (EC Contract No. MRTN-CT-2006-035873).

	10/9/2007		6th EABCN Training Course on "Applied Time Series and Forecast Evaluation" , Lisbon
			The sixth EABCN training school will be a five-day course on "Forecasting Evaluation and Related Topics in Applied Time Series" taught by Professor Kenneth D. West (University of Wisconsin-Madison). In particular, the topics covered will be: I. Forecast Evaluation A. Review of standard results B. Comparison of a small number of non-nested models: Diebold / Mariano / West (DMW) statistic; asymptotic irrelevance C. Comparison of a small number of nested models D. Comparison of a large number of models II. Present value models and random walks A. Interpretation of data from present values models when the discount factor is near one B. Using panels to estimate and forecast. The course will consist of five days of lectures and practical classes, with the objective of introducing the participants to the topics and enabling them to extend and apply the econometric tools and methods taught. Class notes and code will be made available before the beginning of the course.

	10/9/2007		Multilateralising Regionalism , Geneva
			The explosion of regional agreements in many parts of the world over the last decade and a half raises important questions about what this trend means for multilateral trade relations in an increasingly globalized world. There is much literature that seeks to explain and understand what motivates regionalism. But little has been written about the consequences for future trade relations of a continued splintering of trading arrangements into dozens of often overlapping and potentially inconsistent agreements. Is there a point at which this process finds its own saturation level? Or will the political and economic costs of increasing fragmentation lead to a reversal of regionalism? Multilateralizing Regionalism is a two and a half day conference dedicated to exploring these issues, and in particular, the relationship between regionalism and the multilateral trading system. The first two days of the conference will explore how regional trade agreements might be tamed through a multilateral based approach to redefining trade cooperation. The final half day will consist of a high-level discussion, by policymakers and scholars, of the issues teased out in the first part of the conference. The published output from the conference will include a short monograph summarizing the conference findings, together with a conference volume containing the papers prepared for the conference and discussants' comments. The conference volume will also contain two papers that will not be given at the conference – one on the historical evolution of regionalism and the other will present the current situation regarding regional agreements. These papers will be prepared by WTO Secretariat staff.

	13/9/2007		European Summer Symposium in Labour Economics (ESSLE) 2007 , Ammersee
			CEPR's 9th European Summer Symposium in Labour Economics (ESSLE) will take place between 12 - 16 September 2007. The meeting will be hosted by the Institute for the Study of Labour (IZA) at the Deutsche Post conference centre in Buch (near Munich), and will be organized by Armin Falk (IZA, Bonn University and CEPR), Steve Pischke (London School of Economics and CEPR) and Gilles Saint-Paul (Université des Sciences Sociales, Toulouse, and CEPR). ESSLE is designed to bring together economists in the field from across Europe and key researchers from outside the region. It provides a unique opportunity for researchers from different universities and countries to discuss their work in a relaxed atmosphere and to develop long-term collaborative relationships. Another important aim of ESSLE is to provide young researchers with the opportunity to meet and discuss their work with senior economists.

	19/9/2007		EU Patent Policy , Brussels
			This workshop will be held on September 19th, in Brussels, BERL, 13th floor (10.30-15.30). It will bring a small group of top economic experts on patents (Bronwyn Hall, Dietmar Harhoff, Alfonso Gambardella, Bruno van Pottelsberge, Dominique Guellec) together with a select group of commission people across the various DGs dealing with patent policy issues. The aim of the workshop is to bring the latest insights from theory, empirical work, and policy discussions in the US to push forward the current EU patent policy discussion. The workshop will include a number of short presentations by the experts, but the emphasis will be on open discussion.

	20/9/2007		After a volatile summer, where do we stand? Eurocoin and the growth outlook for the Euro area , London
			The Banca d'Italia and CEPR have developed a new version of Eurocoin - designed to provide a single number that summarizes the current economic outlook for the Euro area. The new monthly indicator provides - in real time - an assessment of current economic outlook and GDP growth. Eurocoin will be launched in London on Thursday 20 September by Ignazio Visco - Deputy Director General of the Banca d'Italia. He will be joined by Lucrezia Reichlin, Director General Research at the European Central Bank. Richard Portes will chair the event and Julian Callow, Director and Chief European Economist at Barclays Capital, will act as discussant. Eurocoin helps us understand, for example, how the real economy is reacting to the recent volatility in global financial markets. Eurocoin correctly signalled the slowdown in activity in the second quarter of 2007 and pointed to substantial stability in the third quarter of 2007, estimating GDP growth to be around its potential rate. However, over the last few weeks, as a consequence of the persisting tensions and uncertainties in monetary and financial markets, new data releases have suggested a worsening of expectations both in US and the Euro area. Eurocoin provides a fresh perspective on these developments.

	27/9/2007		Third Banca d'Italia/CEPR Conference on Money, Banking and Finance: Monetary Policy Design and Communication , Rome
			Communication has become an integral part of the strategy of modern central banks. Over the past two decades central banks have generally become more transparent in communicating their objectives, explaining their strategy for setting the policy rate, providing their views regarding the economic outlook and, in some instances, their forecasts on short-term interest rates. Communication can enhance policy effectiveness and help attain the central bank’s ultimate objectives: it facilitates learning by the public, affects expectations and reduces informational frictions. However, what constitutes best practice in this area is lively debated. In an environment of imperfect knowledge, communication may prove misleading and counterproductive. For instance, steering expectations might reduce their information content, thereby worsening the ability of the central bank to correctly gauge the true state of the economy. Moreover, communication of the diversity of views that might be present in committees poses several challenges. This conference aims to cast light on the above issues, both on theoretical and empirical grounds. Examples of questions we would like the contributions to focus on are: - What information should a central bank disclose to the public and what are the most efficient channels for doing so? In particular, should the central bank construct and announce a forecast path for its policy rate or should it, instead, communicate its analysis and forecasts regarding inflation and economic activity? - How does best practice differ with institutional factors, such as the mandate and independence of the central bank and the size and structure of a policy committee? More generally, what factors explain differences in transparency and communications practices across CBs? - How does communication interact with learning and the formation of expectations by the public in environments with imperfect knowledge? - Is there a trade-off between influencing expectations through communication and extracting information about the economy from them? - What is the role of communication complexity in the selection and design of robust policy rules? - Under what circumstances are simple, easy to communicate policy rules preferable to policy approaches whose success requires more complex policy communications? - How can the central bank's communications strategy reflect its own uncertainty about data or about models? - How should possible diversity of views and disagreement be communicated when policy decisions are made by committee? - How can the effects of increased transparency be measured and evaluated? - Have central banks become more predictable? And if so, to what extent can this be attributed to changes in central bank communication?

	28/9/2007		CEPR/ESI 11th Annual Conference on ‘Global Imbalances, Competitiveness and Emerging Markets’ , Pretoria
			The topic of the 11th CEPR/ESI Annual Conference will be ‘Global Imbalances, Competitiveness and Emerging Markets' and will cover the following sub-areas: (1) implications of global imbalances for banking, financial markets and financial stability in mature and emerging markets (2) impact of global imbalances on monetary policy in emerging markets (with special emphasis on the following channels: carry trade, capital flows, liquidity, asset inflation and exchange rates) and (3) modelling competitiveness and balance of payments issues associated with mature and emerging markets. The intention is to have three policy lectures by senior central bankers. Furthermore, there will be three survey papers by reputed academics on global imbalances, competitiveness and emerging markets. Finally, the conference will be closed with a panel session of academics, commercial bank analysts and representatives of international institutions. One part of the conference will be reserved for central bank researchers of member countries of the European Union, the EU candidate countries and the Southern African Development Community (SADC http://www.sadc.int/ ). The organizers will select the three best papers for presentation at the conference in a special session of central bank research papers. Moreover, the organizers will award the best of these three papers with the CEPR/ESI Prize 2007 for the Best Central Bank Research Paper.

	5/10/2007		European Research Workshop In International Trade (ERWIT) , Kiel
			ERWIT is an annual workshop that brings together international economists from across Europe and key researchers from outside the region. It provides a unique opportunity to discuss research in a relaxed atmosphere. The meeting will disseminate the findings of recent research on international trade, and presentations often involve exploratory rather than finished papers.

	5/10/2007		NETSPAR/CEPR Conference on European Pension Challenges , Zurich
			The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and the Network for Studies on Aging and Retirement (NETSPAR) are jointly organizing a second conference on transforming European pension systems. Its principal objective is to promote research on the effect of the ageing population in Europe, and to bring together academics and practitioners in the field. For this second conference we primarily solicit submission of papers that use SHARE or other survey data, or focus on pension risk and longevity risk in European pension systems. Topics relevant to the conference thus include, but are not limited to: - Analyzing pension issues using survey data such as SHARE - How to deal with pension risk - Longevity risk and annuitization - Ageing and productivity

	11/10/2007		FP6/FP7 RTN Workshop , London
			The Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) has, for many years, been centrally involved in the implementation of numerous Research and Training Networks (RTNs), under the 4th, 5th and 6th Frameworks. With this in mind, the idea has arisen to bring together a range of RTNs, rooted in Economic Sciences, in a 3-day workshop, with the aim of facilitating cross-fertilisation and the exchange of good practice and new ideas, and for identifying synergies and potential areas for future co-operation. Specifically, the proposed workshop will provide: - first-hand information on FP7 funding opportunities in economics. - a platform for debate on economic and social science research and policy -opportunities for presentations and poster displays -opportunities for networking and for identifying synergies and possible areas for cooperation between networks - state-of-the-art training opportunities for fellows and others The workshop will take place over three days: -Day 1 will provide the context and aims for FP7, and discuss funding opportunities in economics - it will provide a platform for discussion and debate on the relevance and impact of social sciences in Europe, and their relationship to policy. It will involve key individuals from the European Commission and the economic research community. -Day 2 will bring together representative RTN members in a range of activities designed to exchange information and experiences, stimulate discussion and new ideas. -Day 3 will offer state-of-the art training across a number of critical areas relevant to research, its communication and dissemination; it will also provide an opportunity for informal networking.

	19/10/2007		Banking and the Macroeconomy , Zurich
			CEPR and CER-ETH are pleased to announce that they will host a conference on Banking and the Macroeconomy on 19-20 October 2007 at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Rising international competition, integration of financial markets and regulatory changes have affected the banking industry and may transform its role for the macroeconomy. In recent times the conceptual approaches to banking have shifted somewhat from a microeconomic to a more macroeconomic perspective. The conference will bring together international academic researchers to explore -conceptual approaches of how banking can be integrated in general equilibrium/macroeconomic models -the consequences of such models for regulation of banking and financial markets and for monetary policy -how such models can explain the emergence and workout of banking and currency crises -empirical applications of such type of models This is not an exhaustive list, and all papers focusing on the main theme are welcome. The Programme Committee for the conference consists of Franklin Allen (University of Pennsylvania), Thomas Gehrig (University of Freiburg and CEPR), Hans Gersbach (ETH Zurich and CEPR), Martin Hellwig (Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods), Dimitri Vayanos (London School of Economics and CEPR), and Jaume Ventura (CREI, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and CEPR).

	19/10/2007		Economic Policy Panel , Lisbon


	19/10/2007		Fourth Symposium of the Network Economics of Education and Education Policy in Europe (Marie Curie Training Network) , Madrid
			A conference on the Economics of Education and Education Policy in Europe will be held in Madrid on October 19th and 20th. This is the fourth conference of EU Marie Curie Research and Training Network "Economics of Education and Education Policy in Europe". On behalf of the organizers, Prof. Juan J. Dolado, Prof. Steve Machin and Sandra McNally, I write to invite you to submit a paper or express your interest in attending this Conference. The Conference will address issues in all areas of the Economics of Education and Education Policy. Examples of specific research areas where we would particularly welcome contributions are: 1. Education and Inequality 2. Pupil Performance and School Resources 3. The Labour Market for Teachers 4. Gender Differences in Educational Attainment 5. International Differences in Education Systems"

	26/10/2007		First Meeting of "Transnationality of Migrants" (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Riga
			This is the first meeting of the teams of the TOM Research Training Network. The goal of the conference is to contribute to objective debate on the critical issues, problems, and opportunities in migration trends. We aim to bring together scholars and especially young researchers from universities, research institutions, and international organisations to create fruitful dialogue, share the latest findings, and exchange experiences.

	26/10/2007		Third Symposium of the Network “Unifying European Experience: Lessons of Pan-European Development” (Marie Curie Training Network) , London
			This is the third conference of "Unifying European Experience: Lessons of Pan-European Development" Marie Curie Training Network. The workshop is aimed to overview the upcoming book written by RTN members of this network. Further details on this workshop will be available in due course.

	1/11/2007		8th Annual Bank of Finland/CEPR Conference: Expectations and Business Cycle Dynamics , Helsinki
			Recent research has highlighted the importance of information, or expectations, regarding economic fundamentals, and has argued that changes in these expectations are related to business cycle fluctuations. The focus of much of this research has been on the possibility of expectations-driven business cycles, that is, on the possibility that news or perceptions about future economic fundamentals, such as productivity, generate positive co-movement between key current macroeconomic variables. Research has progressed to show, for example, that some forms of behavioural biases and shocks to expectations can be important sources of business cycle fluctuations in neoclassical models. On the other hand, the related question of agents' expectations formation mechanism can be an equally important factor for the key characteristics of business cycles and should therefore be placed high in the research agenda on business cycle fluctuations. We encourage research on the importance of behavioural biases and expectations formation for business cycle fluctuations and invite papers on the implications of these biases and of alternative expectations formation mechanisms for modelling business cycle fluctuations. We in particular encourage research on · News, perceptions and shocks to expectations and business cycles · Expectations formation and shock propagation · Behavioural biases, alternative expectations formation mechanisms and optimal monetary policy · Deviations from rational expectations and quantitative business cycle modelling

	9/11/2007		Conference on International Adjustment , Brussels
			The workshop organizers welcome submissions of theoretical and empirical contributions in international macroeconomics and finance. Relevant topics include, i.a.: the role of asset markets and portfolio choices in the international adjustment process; current account dynamics; international comovements of asset returns; international risk sharing; international transmission of shocks; price determination of internationally traded goods. The Scientific Committee consists of Giancarlo Corsetti (EUI and CEPR), Paul De Grauwe (University of Leuven), Hans Dewachter (University of Leuven), Robert Kollmann (ECARES, Université de Paris XII and CEPR), David Veredas (ECARES and CORE) and Rafael Wouters (National Bank of Belgium).

	12/11/2007		Ninth Geneva Report on the World Economy: International Financial Stability , London
			Until recently, low risk premia and continuing high returns were increasingly seen as permanent characteristics of the new international financial system, fuelled by unprecedented global risk diversification and supported by highly sophisticated financial instruments. This view was far too optimistic, as the recent turmoil in the world's financial markets has revealed. The ninth Geneva Report on the World Economy examines the main threats to financial stability in the major industrial economies and the emerging markets, focusing on the implications of the major changes that have occurred in the global financial system in the past two decades. The Report first examines financial stability from a macro perspective, considering macroeconomic imbalances, the decline (and spike) in financial market volatility and its causes, and international financial integration. It then examines stability from a micro perspective, considering the implications for stability of the growth of household risk bearing, financial sector consolidation, the emergence of new financial instruments and the growth of hedge funds. It concludes by setting out a series of practical proposals to enhance financial stability.

	16/11/2007		The "New Trade Theory": The Policy Issues , Brussels
			International trade theory was transformed in the 1980s with the introduction of what was called the "new" trade theory, which incorporated monopolistic competition and product differentiation, as well as economies of scale and other forms of imperfect competition, into trade theory. The theory inspired the conception of the common market in Europe. In the 1990s new firm-level data sets became available, which stressed the importance of heterogeneity across firms within industries, such as the relationship between firm characteristics and participation in foreign trade and investment. The "new" trade theory could not explain these patterns. Neither could it explain the growing internationalization of production nor the changing forms of organization of production and distribution around the globe. A new approach was needed which triggered an exciting research program that again revolutionized trade theory. A research network within NBER and CEPR was formed in the early 2000s devoted to this new field in international trade. The outcome of this research network will be published in a book titled "The Organization of Firms in a Global Economy" edited by Elhanan Helpman, Dalia Marin, Thierry Verdier, Harvard University Press in 2008. The purpose of this event is to inform a broader audience about the insights of this new research area.

	23/11/2007		Second Meeting of the Young Researchers of the European Network for the Advancement of Behavioural Economics (Marie Curie Research Training Network) , Zurich
			This is the second meeting of the young researchers active in the ENABLE network, financed by the European Commission's Marie Curie Training Networks programme.

	29/11/2007		Banking and Asset Markets: Developments, Risks and Policy Issues , Paris
			In the past decade, Fondation Banque de France's Journées have been an annual event featuring the outcome of previous research grants. This year's harvest includes three papers on the systematic variations in expected loss and liquidity, the impact of securitization on bank lending and the cost of banking regulation. The aim is to broaden the discussion by bringing in additional contributions from the research community. The call for papers focuses on the developments, risks and policy issues regarding banking and asset markets, especially related to Europe. We hope papers will provide insights into the impact of integration and innovation on financing in Europe, their implications for credit risk and financial stability, the design of appropriate regulatory frameworks across markets and institutions and the conduct of monetary policy.

	14/12/2007		CEPR-CREI Conference on Sovereign Risk , Barcelona
			The goal of the conference is to bring together researchers working on sovereign risk. The topics of the conference are the following: -Theoretical models. Why do countries repay their debts? What are the effects of sovereign risk? -Empirical analysis. What are the costs of default? When do countries default? -Historical perspectives. Evidence from previous episodes of financial globalization. -Implications for economic policy.

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