JVI Economists: Staying Ahead of the Curve and Making a Wider Impact

Tatiana Evdokimova presenting at the conference in the Hungarian National Bank

Markus Eller attending an advanced course for faculty members at the Study Center Gerzensee

Rilind Kabashi while delivering technical assistance to the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina

While spending most of their time teaching at the JVI and developing the curriculum, the economic staff is involved in complementary activities, such as international training, knowledge sharing, research, technical assistance, and continuous professional development. These activities bring synergies to the JVI and its customers while contributing to economists’ professional development.

International Training and Collaboration

JVI economists occasionally join the teaching staff for courses delivered by the IMF outside of the JVI. Recently, they have taught emerging topics such as Central Bank Digitial Currency (CBDC) or Climate Change in Asia. This allows economists to share their expertise and learn from the latest developments in other regions. Other examples include a recent collaboration with the Banque de France in Paris, where a JVI economist lectured on the impact of carbon pricing on EU stock markets in one of their courses, highlighting the intersection of environmental policy and financial markets and emphasizing the importance of sustainable economic practices. International training fosters knowledge transfer, collaboration, and enhances the professional development of economists, including by enriching their understanding of diverse economic contexts.

Research and Conference Attendance

JVI staff are often involved in research connected to the courses taught, given the symbiotic relationship between research and teaching. The research covers topics such as the evolution of monetary policy communication by central banks in emerging markets to whether renewable energy shields inflation from fossil-fuel price fluctuations. This activity significantly contributes to knowledge sharing with participants, but also to policy discussions through various platforms such as conferences and webinars. Recent webinars with the IMF and CCAMTAC covered topics such as the impact of the green transition on inflation and demographic shifts on banking stability for instance. Presentations in the past 12 months have also been made at the Austrian Central Bank, Swiss National Bank, National Bank of Hungary, National Bank of Slovakia, and virtually at the Central Bank of Denmark and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

Technical Assistance Mission

JVI economists occasionally contribute to the delivery of IMF technical assistance missions (TA) in JVI countries. Over the past three years, JVI economists have worked with the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina to enhance its macroeconomic analysis and forecasting capacity using an innovative approach combining gap models with standard financial programming. More recently, an IMF TA project including JVI economists helped the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan develop a macroeconomic projection tool for forecasting and policy analysis. Not only do these activities help bridge the gap between theory and practice, but they also serve as the basis to developing new courses, such as the recent Macroeconomic Management Issues segment of the cohort training and of the flagship JVI Applied Economic Policy course.

Continuous Professional Development

Given the JVI’s commitment to continuous professional development, economists are also encouraged to enhance their instructional capabilities and technical expertise. Recent training taken by JVI economists includes courses on machine learning, advanced econometric or communication training to refine public speaking skills. These activities are crucial for economists to expand their professional network, to enhance their expertise, and to remain effective in their roles.

Patrick Imam, Deputy Director, Joint Vienna Institute