Catherine Guirkinger will present her research at KU Leuven as part of a Francqui Chair

Established in 1933, the Francqui Chairs aim to promote exchanges between universities and highlight academic excellence. Each year, Belgian universities invite professors from other institutions to deliver a series of approximately ten hours of lectures, preceded by an inaugural lecture open to a wider audience. 

This year, KU Leuven has chosen to invite Catherine Guirkinger, a professor of economics at the University of Namur. “What interests me is how arrangements within couples and families are reshaped when the world around them changes, and how these changes affect each of their members.” “Her research, conducted primarily in sub-Saharan Africa but also in Europe, combines field surveys, experiments, and historical data.” 

The Francqui Chair will begin with an inaugural lecture titled “Economic Change and the Family: Adjustment and Resistance,” followed by three more technical courses designed for master’s and doctoral students. Catherine Guirkinger will demonstrate how economic changes, laws, or social norms can influence decisions made within households. “We cannot ignore what happens within the family: all policy is, in a way, filtered through it,” she emphasizes. 

She will draw in particular on her research on divorce, domestic violence, decision-making within couples, and the influence of the economic environment on families. These courses will also provide an opportunity to engage with students already involved in research. “You can go deeper with an audience like this,” Catherine Guirkinger notes. “It’s always very stimulating.”  

This Francqui Chair also builds on an existing relationship between UNamur and KU Leuven. Economists from both universities have collaborated, in particular, on an EOS (Excellence of Science) project, the joint research program of the FNRS and the FWO. Catherine Guirkinger has very fond memories of that experience: “This program led to very fruitful scientific exchanges. This chair is a wonderful opportunity to build on them.” 

Her presence in Leuven will thus provide a new opportunity to exchange ideas, share research conducted in Namur, and further the collaboration between the two institutions. Congratulations to Catherine Guirkinger on this prestigious honor!