The first edition of SIER was sponsored by the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA). In their willingness to improve the ability of African economists to shape development policy on the continent, the goal of the summer institute is to contribute to the establishment of networks of collaborative, multidisciplinary research and policy engagement involving African academics and policy makers. SIER 2015 took place in Benin from December 7 to 18.
The Summer Institute for Economic Research (SIER) last 11 days and it revolved around three major sessions:
Session 1: Training on Research Design
The first session consisted of a 5-day workshop on research design and empirical methods (e.g. causal inference and identification strategies, survey design, GIS methods). The target audience included rising young African economists and Africa-based university professors.
Session 2: Presentation of research
The second session was devoted to 10 to 15 presentations of working papers by participants on selected topics such as political economy, development economics, and econometrics. Topics were be based on the leading policy challenges and debates in African countries.
Session 3: Policy discussion roundtable
The third session included a policy roundtable on African development involving accomplished African social science scholars. This offered researchers and policymakers an opportunity to engage in dialogues, potentially leading to more focused and policy relevant academic research.
The full program is available here.
Testimonials – SIER 2015
“ASE Summer Institute for Economic Research was an opportunity to discover one of the largest economic and statistic research platforms in Africa. ASE’s students are really motivated, I was totally impressed by the high quality of their research. The outstanding and creative research environment fostered at ASE made it a great place to do science” / Marie Christelle Mabeu (PhD Candidate, University of Ottawa, Canada)
“ASE is poised to be the continental epicentre of world-class innovative economic research and training of the brightest African economists, the next generation of leading scholars and transformational policy leaders. The cutting-edge skills of ASE students are astonishing, having nothing to envy to many world-leading universities. After listening to many ASE students’ insightful presentations and reading their outstanding papers, I extended collaboration opportunities to some of them and anticipate hiring more. ASE is definitively the place to be for anyone studying Economics in Africa” / Landry Signé (University of Alaska Anchorage; Distinguished Fellow, Stanford University’s Center for African Studies, USA)
“The African School of Economics is a vibrant international and intellectual community. Students are exposed to cutting-edge methods in economics and public policy and are connected to a wide network of top scholars and institutions around the world. Not only do the ASE programs prepare students for a scientific research career, they also train them for a brilliant career in the public or private spheres” / Pierre Nguimkeu (Georgia State University, USA)
“I have the privilege to participate fully in well thought out program in research design, research presentations and policy forum of ASE in December 2015. ASE is one of the leading economic institutions in West Africa with a vision of becoming a world-class center of excellence in Economics, Mathematics, Statistics and Finance. Through the provision of high quality programs and services, caring faculty and the cultivation of a participant-centered learning environment, ASE has been able to maintain a vigilant focus on human capacity development and institutional contribution to the national development efforts of across the West Coast” / Kingsley Agomor (School of Public Services and Governance – Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Ghana)
“ASE is an innovative institution where students can learn in English, the main language of research, and enroll in top quality economics programs. ASE has a friendly environment where students and researchers can learn from leading researchers from North America, and where you can take advantage of diversity. The African School of Economics gives Africans a true identity in the world, making it one of the best institutions on the continent” / Françoise Okah (University of Younde II, Cameroon)
“During the 2015 Summer Institute for Economic Research, hosted by the African School of Economics in Benin, I had the opportunity to interact with students and faculty members of this prominent institution. I was pleasantly surprised by the nice mix and high level training received by students in mathematics, statistics and economics. I have no doubt that ASE will become very soon a leading institution for research and postgraduate study in Africa” / Ismael Mourifié (University of Toronto, Canada)
