Academic session 2: Human development and sustainability

Chair: Roger Albinyana, Managing Director, IEMed

Paper 2.1: Human development and inequalities: The importance of social public spending
Authors: Ronald Miranda Lescano* (Instituto de Economía of the Universidad de la República Uruguay); Oriol Roca-Sagalés; Leonel Muinelo-Gallo
Discussant: Moubarack Lo*, Economic Prospective Office of Senegal

Paper 2.2: The Impact of Social Protection Intervention on Alleviating Social Vulnerability (Evidence from Ethiopian Rural Households)
Authors: Tewelde Gerlase Haile* (Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee)
Discussant: Yeganeh Forouheshfar, EMEA

Paper 2.3: A Model of Public Education, Environmental Awareness and Environmental Quality– an Overlapping Generations Approach
Authors: Fatma Safi*, University of Sfax
Discussant: Marwa Biltagy*, Feps

Academic session 3: Financial inclusion

Chair: Najat El Mekkaoui, Paris Dauphine University and EMEA

Paper 3.1: Advisors for micro-entrepreneurs: is one as good as another in accessing alternative finance?
Authors: Doriana Cucinelli (EMEA and University of Parma), Maria Gaia Soana and Beatrice Ronchini
Discussant: Claudia Girardone*, Essex Business School

Paper 3.2: Impact of financial inclusion on carbon dioxide emissions
Authors: Rania Makni*(IHEC Carthage); Ezzeddine Delhoumi
Discussant: Mais Shaaban*, EMEA and Al- Zaytoonah University Of Jordan

Paper 3.3: CBDCs and deposit-funded banking systems
Authors: Magdalena Kozińska (Warsaw School of Economics) and Sakshi Narula* (Indian Institute of Technology Delhi)
Discussant: Doriana Cucinelli, EMEA and University of Parma

Regional integration session

Introduction: Prof Rym Ayadi, EMEA
Presentation: Elena Stotts Lee, Research Assistant, EMEA
Discussants:
– George Zestos*, Christopher Newport University
– Aboubaker Benslimane*, JokkoLabs

Academic session 4: Food security and green growth

Chair: Sandra Challita, EMANES Coordinator, EMEA and emlyon

Paper 4.1: The Impact of Financial Development On Green Complexity: Cross-Country Evidence
Authors: Pınar Yaşar, Başak Dalgıç, and Burcu Fazlıoğlu (TOBB University of Economics and Technology)
Discussant: Najat El Mekkaoui, Paris Dauphine University and EMEA

Paper 4.2: Food Security, Prices and Geopolitical Risk: A Panel Threshold Regression (PTR) Approach
Authors: Samer Mehibel (Centre de Recherche en Economie Appliquée pour le Développement), Reda Hamza Boudjana, Messaoud Lazereg and Amel Bouzid
Discussant: Sara Ronco*, EMEA and Università degli Studi del’Insubria

Paper 4.3: Effects of economic complexity and energy consumption on inclusive green growth
Authors: Isaac K. Ofori* (University of Cape Coast), Emmanuel Y. Gbolonyo and Nathanael Ojong
Discussant: Ivan Hajdukovic, EMEA

Policy Session: What Euro-Med African Partnership for climate change adaptation and mitigation?

Description

The Mediterranean is where a diverse array of societies thrives, united by a shared heritage and now, a shared challenge: climate change. The socio-economic fabric of the region, interlaced with varying degrees of wealth, development, and cultures, grapples with the tangible consequences of a shifting climate. From agricultural decline to economic instabilities threatening heritage-rich coastal cities, the impacts are profound and far-reaching to the African continent.

The Mediterranean’s collective response to this climate crisis transcends mere environmental concern, evolving into a vital socio-economic battle anchored in mitigation and adaptation that demands cross-border solidarity and concerted action and burden sharing.

It is against this critical juncture that the panel discussion is convened, aiming to foster united efforts that span the economic disparities and social diversities of the region.

Our panel is aimed to set the path toward socio-economic resilience through shared initiative and responsibility. The Mediterranean nations, intertwined in a complex web of trade, tourism, and tradition, recognize their interdependent futures. The conversation will prioritize strategies for sustainable economic development, just transition, equitable resource distribution, and policy synchronization to safeguard the region’s socio-economic interests. Participants will delve
into the multi-layered socio-economic challenges presented by climate change and explore collaborative solutions vital for the region’s stability.

Moderator: Rym Ayadi, President Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), Director, Euro-Mediterranean and African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES), Spain
Panelists:
– Cinzia Alcidi*, Director of Research, Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium
– Nathalie Hilmi, Section Head of Environmental Economics, Scientific Center of Monaco
– Grammenos Mastrojeni, Senior Deputy Secretary General, Union for the Mediterranean
– Iolanda Fresnillo, Policy and Advocacy Manager – Debt Justice Eurodad

Conference dinner

Location : Firo Tast, Av. de Gaudí, 83, 08025 Barcelona

Policy Keynote:

Ekkehard Ernst*, member of the STOA International Advisory Board, president of the Geneva Macro Labs and chief macroeconomist at the International Labour Organization

Academic session 5: Labour Markets

Chair: Raul Ramos, Vice-Rector of Internationalisation Policy at the University of Barcelona

Paper 5.1: Informal Employment and Job Quality for Youth in Egypt prior the Pandemic
Authors: Adrien Frontenaud and Philippe Adair (ERUDITE and University Paris-Est Créteil)
Discussant: Alex Hamed*, Christopher Newport University

Paper 5.2: GVC and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from MENA
Authors: Yasmine Eissa*, (Misr International University)
Discussant: Giorgia Giovanetti*, University of Firenze

Paper 5.3: The relationship between labor market institutions and innovation in 177 European regions over the period 2000–2015
Authors: Gaetano Perone* (University of Pisa, Italy)
Discussant: Raul Ramos, University of Barcelona

13:30- 14:00

Policy Keynote 2:

HE Fathallah Sijilmassi*, General Director, African Union Commission

Academic session 6: Climate Risk

Chair: Nathalie Hilmi, Section Head of Environmental Economics, Scientific Center of Monaco

Paper 6.1: Climate Risk and Bank Capital Structure
Authors: Yassine Bakkar (Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom)
Discussant: Serena Sandri*, EMANES and German Jordanian University

Paper 6.2: Interpretable machine learning models for ESG stock prices under transition and physical climate risk
Authors: Haithem Awijen, Sami Ben Jabeur (ESDES Lyon Business School), Julien Pillot
Discussant: Yixiao (Ethan) Jiang*, Western New England University

Paper 6.3: CO2 Emissions and the Link to Financial Development in Nigeria: New Discoveries through Asymmetric Cointegration
Authors: Muhammad Abdulaziz Muhammad, Kamal Tasiu Abdullahi (Istanbul University)
Discussant: George Zestos*, Christopher Newport University

Concluding Remarks and Announcement of the Best Paper Award

Dr. Cinzia Alcidi*, Director of Research, Head of the Economic Policy Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Belgium

Prof. Rym Ayadi, President Euro-Mediterranean Economists Association (EMEA), Director, Euro-Mediterranean African Network for Economic Studies (EMANES), Spain