Development Finance and Public Policies (DeFiPP)

DeFiPP is a research institute from the University of Namur (Belgium) that promotes research in three areas: development economics, finance and monetary economics, and public policies and regional economics. For that purpose, DeFiPP produces academic research within three specific centers: the Center for Research in the Economics of Development (CRED), the Center for Research in Finance and Management (CeReFiM) and the Center for Research in Regional Economics and Economic Policy (CERPE).

 

 

DeFiPP’s main objective is to promote excellence in research in both economics and finance through top-tier theoretical and empirical scientific publications. In the process, the institute strongly relies on interactions between members of its three research centers and encourages the sharing of methods and approaches. DeFiPP also aims to develop both national and international visibility through collaboration with researchers from numerous universities and countries. In this regard, the institute, together with several other Belgian universities (KU Leuven, UC Louvain and Universiteit Antwerpen), is currently involved in the Excellence of Science (EOS) project that focuses on knowledge development about the consequences of globalization and market integration in both developing and developed countries.

 

DeFiPP’s key strengths

 

  • The integration of different yet related research areas and approaches in both economics and finance.

 

  • The importance of the institute’s three research centers. In particular, CRED is considered a leading center in development economics in Europe, and is notably supported by the European Union through the European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant. CERPE is well known for its advisory role in Belgian public policies. As for CeReFiM, it recently collaborated with private sector organizations through Ageas and BNP Paribas Fortis research chairs dedicated to systemic and asset risk management.

 

  • The organization of various research activities that bring together the members of the different research centers. Activities fall in two categories: DeFiPP activities (e.g. weekly Economics Seminars and DeFiPP Workshops) and activities co-organized with other universities (e.g. Ph.D. Workshop co-organized twice a year with both the UC Louvain and the Université Saint-Louis).

 

  • The participation of DeFiPP’s three research centers to a joint Doctoral School, together with other Belgian universities, which allows DeFiPP members to take high-quality doctoral courses.