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Center for Research in Development Economics (CRED)

The CRED is a research entity dedicated to the study of development economics. More specifically, researchers work on issues related to micro-institutions, collective action, market development and political economy. Much of CRED's research is based on first-hand data collected by researchers in numerous countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Theoretical and empirical work is regularly produced by a team of 6 permanent academic researchers as well as 10 to 15 PhD students and post-doctoral researchers.
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Center for Research in Finance and Management (CeReFiM)

The CeReFiM studies issues of finance and macroeconomics. In recent years, several research programs have been conducted on specific topics such as complex financial systems, sustainable finance and systemic risk in the mutual fund industry. In most cases, research questions are approached from an empirical perspective using modern econometric techniques. Currently, CeReFiM consists of a balanced group of senior and junior members who work in close collaboration with each other, as well as with academics and financial practitioners from numerous universities and financial institutions in Belgium and abroad.
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The theses

Theses in progress AGBA Komlan (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays in international Finance (Supervisor: GNABO Jean-Yves; Co-supervisor: BENANNI Hamza) ALVAREZ Pablo (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on development economics with a focus on gender inequality (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine) ALVAREZ Pablo (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on development economics with a focus on gender inequality (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine) AYACHI Syrine (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays on green bonds BARAKA KUSINZA Doux (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in gender economics (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine)DEBROISE Auguste (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays on behavioral political economicsERNAELSTEEN Christophe (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays in public economics and regional competitiveness (Supervisor: DEJARDIN Marcus) FERRONI Giorgio (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays on platforms and sharing economy (Supervisor: TOULEMONDE Éric)GUEBEN Marine (CRED) | Thesis title: To Be AnnouncedJOLIVET Anna (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in development economics and household decision-making (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine)LÜLLE Angela (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays in Development EconomicsMOHAMED SULIMAN Ammar (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: To Be AnnouncedPEREZ RIAZA Baptiste (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Essays on Crypto-assets and financial stability (Supervisor: GNABO Jean-Yves)RENK Andréa (CRED) | Thesis title: Essays on institutional change in India and Nepal (Supervisor: BALAND Jean-Marie)RICHARD Quentin (CRED) | Thesis title: Intergenerational transmission of life expectancy (Supervisor: GUIRKINGER Catherine ; Co-supervisor: BALAND Jean-Marie)SCHRAVERUS Louise (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Three essays on Sovereign Wealth Funds SOUDANT Joey (CeReFiM) | Thesis title: Applications of complex systems in macro-finance topicsTCHINDA Charlie (CERPE) | Thesis title: Essays in the economics of self-employment (Supervisor: DEJARDIN Marcus) Past theses All theses completed in the last five academic years.2022-2023BAILY Camille: Climate Change: Impact and Challenges for the Financial SystemBHARTI Nitin: Essays on Socio-Economic Inequality and Development in India and China: A Historical & Institutional PerspectiveFARÈ Luca: Entrepreneurship, Small Businesses' Innovation and ContextsLEDRU François-Xavier: On the financial attributes of impact investments and the behavior of socially minded agentsMANUEL Clarice: Essays on women empowerment and norms in developing countries: the case of Nepal and the PhilippinesWOITRIN François: Three Essays on Mechanism Design and Family Economics2021-2022BEQUET Ludovic: Essays on agricultural productivity and intrahousehold dynamics in the PhilippinesKITUMBA Guylord: Coping strategies by microentrepreneurs in Kinshasa2020-2021DAYE Modeste: Essays in Development Economics: On Agents' Prosocial and Financial Behaviors. Supervisors: Profs. Romain Houssa and Paul Reding.2019-2020MICHELS Anne: Migration and Bequest Decisions: Theory and Evidence from the Bolivian Altiplano. Supervisor: Prof. Jean-Philippe Platteau.VANHOMWEGEN Henri: Distinctives Strategies in the Equity Mutual Funds Industry. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Oscar Bernal.2018-2019MOHIMONT Jolan: Business Cycles and Monetary Policy in a Small Open Emerging Economy. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.LAURENT Hélène: Essays in Public and Entrepreneurship Economics: Taxation and Corruption. Supervisor: Prof. Marcus Dejardin.HUBERT Olivier: Heterogeneous Effects of Fiscal Policy on Sovereign Yields. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.GROSS Jérémie: Individual and Family Behavior in Poor Households: Evidence from Semi-Arid Burkina Faso. Supervisors: Profs. Catherine Guirginger and Jean-Philippe Platteau.DELMEZ Françoise: Jobless Recoveries: No Jobs for the Unemployed, Longer Hours for Workers? Supervisor: Prof. Alain de Crombrugghe.2017-2018DAHLQVIST Carl-Henrik: Essays in Econophysics and Applied Econometrics: Modeling Complexity in Finance. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Sophie Béreau.SCHOLTES Nicolas: Interbank Networks and Financial Stability. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Sophie Béreau.2016-2017GONNE Nicolas: Consequences of Firm-Level Heterogeneity for Corporate Financial and Tax Policy. Supervisor: Prof. Eric Toulemonde.SIMILON Astrid: Essays on the Economics of Nonprofits and Philanthropy. Supervisor: Prof. Gani Aldashev.MERGESA Kelbesa: Government Finances and Financial Shocks in Developing Economies. Supervisor: Prof. Romain Houssa.GERACI Marco: Essays on Complexity in the Financial System. Supervisors: Profs. Jean-Yves Gnabo and Davy Paindaveine.
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Working documents

Following are links to working papers from the DeFiPP Research Institute. This series of working papers was launched in September 2021.
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ILEE lunch seminar

His long-term collaboration with Dr. Aniruddha Chatterjee recently resulted in the first collaborative framework agreement between the University of Otago and UNamur, as well as an international Erasmus+ (EU) credit mobility funding this scientific mission. Frédéric Silvestre deepened his understanding of the advanced DNA methylation techniques employed by Dr. Chatterjee's team, including their bioinformatics workflows and innovative approach to epigenetic editing. He has given several seminars presenting LEAP's research on mangrove rivulus and turquoise molefish. He also presented at the Australasian Epigenetic Alliance conference and had the opportunity to explore potential new collaborations with other departments, including zoology, sustainable development, chemistry and marine sciences.
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ILEE lunch seminar

Quentin Willot (Biology) has just joined URBE for a two-year post-doctoral position (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, supervisor: Alice Dennis) on a project called ChillAnts. This project focuses on the study of adaptation to extreme temperatures in holarctic (trans-Beringian) ant species, from a physiological, ecological and evolutionary point of view. Quentin will present a more technical aspect of his work (Thermal Death Time Curve Modelling).
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The Master's degree specializing in sustainable development management and economics: a program rooted in contemporary issues

For more than 30 years, the Department of Flexible Scheduling at the Faculty of Economics, Management, Communication, and Political Science (EMCP) at the University of Namur has been helping adults returning to school to acquire new skills. In 2023, the Department launched a brand-new program: a Master's degree specializing in sustainable development management and economics. This one-year program addresses environmental and societal challenges by training professionals to support the ecological and economic transition. 
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Walloon Honey PGI and Liège White Sausage PGI: When History Adds Flavor to Local Products

In 2025, two iconic Walloon products—Walloon honey and Liège white blood sausage—were awarded the prestigious European PGI designation. Behind this success lies the AgriLabel project, to which UNamur has been contributing for over a decade. Working alongside producers, specialists, and public institutions, our Department of History played a decisive role: demonstrating, through historical sources and scientific analysis, the close connection between these products and their local terroir. A project at the heart of economic, identity-related, cultural, and scientific issues.
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Economy: Why Are More African Women Converting to New Christian Churches?

New Christian churches are experiencing spectacular growth, particularly in Africa. While they are attracting a growing number of followers, it is notable that women are joining them far more often than men. Catherine Guirkinger, a professor and researcher in development economics, examines this gendered phenomenon of religious conversion and the economic mechanisms underlying it. This original research has just received prestigious WelCHANGE funding through the 2025 call for proposals from the F.R.S-FNRS. 
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A prestigious FNRS prize in the social sciences for Professor Jean-Marie Baland

The FNRS has awarded the five-year Ernest-John Solvay Prize in the Social Sciences to Jean-Marie Baland, Professor in the Department of Economics at UNamur's EMCP Faculty and co-founder of the DeFiPP Institute's Centre de Recherche en Economie du Développement (CRED). A major accolade for a career devoted to the study of poverty, informal institutions and sustainable development..
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UNamur active in the Relief network: new collaborations planned

It's official: the University of Namur joins the Réseau d'Échanges et de Liaisons entre Institutions d'Enseignement Supérieur Francophones (RELIEF). It thus becomes the fourth partner in this network, alongside the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR), the Université Savoie Mont Blanc and the Haute École Spécialisée de Suisse Occidentale (HES-SO).
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DEFIPP - EUDN Annual Conference

Program FEBRUARY 139.00-9.30 Registration Auditorium E13Chair: Jean-Marie Baland9.30-10.15 Catherine Guirkinger (University of Namur) - Height, parental investments and marriage payments in sub-Saharan Africa10.15-11 Clément Imbert (Sc Pos Paris) - Dry Lives: Climate Adaptation and Mortality in the Semi-arid Regions of Brazil 11-11.30 coffee break11.30-12.15 Karlijn Morsink (Utrecht University) - Keeping the Peace while Getting Your Way: Information, Persuasion and Intimate Partner Violence12.15-13.00 Liam Wren-Lewis (Paris School of Economics) - Decentralization, Ethnic Fractionalization, and Public Services: Evidence from Kenyan Healthcare 13.00-14.10 Lunch Break and EC MeetingChair: Guilhem Cassan14.15-15.00 Christelle Dumas (University of Fribourg) Informal labor exchange teams and participation on the labor market: Evidence from rural Tanzania15.00-15.45 Andreas Madestam (University of Stockholm) Credit Contracts, Business Development and Gender: Evidence from Uganda15.45-16.15 Coffee Break16.15-17.00 Salvatore di Falco (University of Geneva) Farming, Non-Farm Enterprise, and Migration Under Incomplete Markets17:00-17:45 Jadnith Kaur (University of Glasgow) How Much Do I Matter? Teacher Self-Beliefs, Effort, and Education Production18:15 EUDN General Assembly 19.30 Conference DinnerFEBRUARY 14Chair: Sylvie Lambert9.30-10.15 Yannick Dupraz (University of Paris Dauphine) A century of language and migration in India10:15-11:00 Laura Montebruck (Stockholm University) Fiscal exchange and Tax Compliance: Strengthening the the Social Contract Under Low State Capacity 11-11.30 coffee break11.30-12.15 Justine Knebelmann (Sciences Po, Paris) Discretion versus Algorithms: Bureaucrats and Tax Equity in Senegal12.15-13.00 Imelda (Geneva Graduate Institute) Crime in the Dark: Role of Electricity Rationing 13.00-14.00 Lunch BreakChair: Catherine Guirkinger14.00-14:45 Rieger Matthias (Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Rotterdam) Shaken, not Stunted? Global Evidence on Natural Disasters, Child Growth and Recovery14.45-15:30 Guilhem Cassan (University of Namur) Political Determinants of the News Market: Novel Data and Quasi-Experimental evidence from India 15.45 End of the Conference Full program
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