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DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
• Christine Clarke , Carol Nelson – Best Research Publication (Book) Research Awards 2021 “Contextualising Jamaica’s Relationship with the IMF” • Nadine McCloud-Rose – Best Research Publication (Article) Research Awards 2021. “Determining the Number of Effective Parameters in Kernel Density Estimation” • Nekeisha Spencer – Most Outstanding Researcher for years 2020 and 2022. She produced six articles during the Academic Year 2018/19 and five during the Year 2020/21. CONFERENCES AND FORUMS The Department hosted its fifth West Indies Economic Conference (WECON), March 9–10, 2023. The primary goal of WECON, which was realised, is to facilitate presentations and dialogues on research and to enhance relationships between experts and policymakers. The conference was a smooth two-day affair, featuring over 25 presenters, two keynote speakers, a specially invited speaker and a guest speaker. The event drew a diverse audience of more than 100 persons, including academics, industry professionals and students. The first keynote address featured Rocío Titiunik, Professor of Politics at Princ- eton University, on the topic “ Analysis and Interpretation of Multi-Dimensional Regression Discontinuity Designs ”. The second keynote address was delivered by George-Levi Gayle, John H. Biggs Distinguished Professor of Economics, Wash- ington University (St. Louis) and graduate of our Department of Economics, on the topic “The Importance of Family Structure and Within Household Allocation for Economic Policy and Human Capital Development”. Matias Cattaneo, Professor of Operations Research & Financial Engineering at Princeton University, delivered the special guest lecture on “ Uncertainty Quantification in Synthetic Controls with Staggered Treatment Adoption ” . Presentations from panellists covered various topics, including Finance & Monetary, Growth & Development, Environment & Education and Econometrics. Conference participants and members of staff of the Department chaired panels. In addition, the conference featured an industry panel organised in collaboration with the National Commercial Bank (NCB Capital Markets), our main sponsor. The panel discussions centred around the theme: “Development of the Capital Markets: A Necessary Condition for Economic Development & Sustainable Long- Term Growth”. Special remarks at WECON were delivered by Pushpam Kumar, Senior Economic Advisor for the UN Environment Programme, on the topic, “ Inclusive Wealth of Nations: Sustainability and Equity.” Mr Kumar is a repre- sentative from the United Nations. UN also collaborated with WECON 2023 as a partner.
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