IGIER, 12 Stars for 20 Years
IGIER, the Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research, celebrates its 20th anniversary with a two-day conference on June 8th and 9th (CLICK HERE for the complete program and to register by May 31st).
"It will be a stellar conference, to which we invite all Bocconi students and faculty", says Maristella Botticini, IGIER director.IGIER was established in 1991 thanks to the long-term vision of Francesco Giavazzi and Mario Monti to help attract back to Italy talented young Italian scholars working in academic institutions abroad. Over the years, the work and dedication of its directors - Francesco Giavazzi, Guido Tabellini, Roberto Perotti, and Carlo Favero - made IGIER grow into a dynamic and truly international research center. The 20th anniversary conference is IGIER's gift to the entire Bocconi community of students and faculty.
The conference will kick-off on Wednesday, June 8th at 10:15 with Francesco Giavazzi welcoming the speakers and the conference participants, as well as summarizing what is IGIER today. At 10:30 the conference program will start with the first session, "Insights from Theory", which will host Eddie Dekel (Northwestern University and Tel Aviv University) and Jean-Charles Rochet (Toulouse School of Economics and University of Zurich). "Economic theory is the building block, the pillar of the economic science", says Botticini, "and this is why we begin the conference listening to two of the very best theorists in the academic profession. They will review how this exciting field has developed in the past 10-15 years." In the afternoon, the conference will focus on the two fields of finance and macroeconomics, hosting a dream-team of speakers: Franklin Allen (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Lars Peter Hansen (University of Chicago) for the session on "Financial Markets"; Alberto Alesina (Harvard University) and Olivier Blanchard (MIT) for the session "Macroeconomic Outlook: The Big Picture. "We are eager to learn from these scholars how theoretical and empirical studies in finance and macroeconomics may help us understand the recent financial and economic crisis" says IGIER president Carlo Favero.
The morning session of June 9th is the best example of IGIER's new mission of conducting multidisciplinary research in the social sciences. One of the leading world demographers, Wolfgang Lutz (WU Wien and IIASA), and one of the most impressive scholars in economics, Alan Krueger (Princeton University) will offer broad and deep insights on one of the fundamental topics in demography and economics: the role of education and human capital and the functioning of labor markets. The conference concludes in the afternoon with two sessions that will bring "academic fireworks" with a set of stellar scholars: Abhijit Banerjee (MIT) and Joel Mokyr (Northwestern University) will bring their insights on the "Engines of Economic Development", looking at both contemporary developing countries as well as the whole world over the past three hundred years. Next, Daron Acemoglu and Esther Duflo (both at MIT) will engage in an exciting debate on "The Political Economy of Growth". The question of why some countries are rich and others struggle to offer decent standards of living to their citizens is the one-million dollars question for tomorrow's prosperity and peace", says Botticini, "and this is why the IGIER 20th anniversary conference concludes with two sessions devoted to this crucial topic."