AUA Hosts 12th Annual Meeting of the Armenian Economic Association

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YEREVAN, Armenia — On July 1-2, the Armenian Economic Association (AEA) held its 12th Annual Meeting at the American University of Armenia (AUA), hosted by the Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics (CBE). Earlier, AEA convened online sessions on June 30.

Led by Dr. Gurgen Aslanyan, the president of the association and the AUA Master of Science in Economics (MSE) program chair, AEA aims to advance economics research in Armenia, improve economics curricula taught in various Armenian institutions, support research-based policy advising, and trigger interest among research economists to study Armenia-related issues. The association’s flagship activity is the annual conference in Armenia, held every June. Past keynote speakers have included prominent economists, such as Daron Acemoglu, Tito Boeri, Sergei Guriev, Francesca Molinari, among others.

This year, the 12th Annual Meeting of the AEA was held in a mixed format, with online and in-person participation. The featured keynote speakers were Dr. Paula Bustos (Center for Monetary and Financial Studies), Armen Nurbekyan (Central Bank of Armenia), and Nico Voigtländer (University of California, Los Angeles). The speakers covered a variety of topics, including issues of public, labor, environmental, diaspora, political, and monetary economics, as well as the impact of skilled migration, econometrics, household finance, macro finance, economic policy in Armenia, microeconomics, economics, and more. There were presenters from ten different countries, including in-person presenters from Canada, Uzbekistan, the UK, and Israel, and eight others delivered their presentations online. 

In 2014, AEA established an annual award in honor of the 100th anniversary of one of the greatest Armenian economists of the 20th century, Armen Alchian. The award was designed by twin brother-artists, known by the name Jevo (meaning twins in the Gyumri dialect). This year’s best paper award after Armen Alchian went to Hayk Hambardzumyan, AUA Master of Science in Economics (MSE) alumnus currently pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan.

At the AEA Annual Meeting each year, the IMF country representative recognizes a presented work in the subfield of international or monetary economics for a special award (with a monetary component). This year, the IMF award was bestowed to MSE 2022 graduate Petros Poghosyan for his thesis. 

AUA’s collaboration with AEA continues to be strong and productive. On September 8-10, the parties are co-organizing a conference on Econometrics and Business Analytics (iCEBA) in partnership with the Central Bank of Armenia and Saint Petersburg State University. Confirmed keynote and invited speakers include: Dr. Giuseppe Cavaliere (University of Bologna), Dr. Esfandiar Maasoumi (Emory University), Alexey Onatskiy (University of Cambridge), and Dr. Jean-Michel Zakoïan (ENSAE-CREST). iCEBA 2022 will serve as a premier forum to bring together researchers from all fields of econometrics and business analytics, with a focus on time series analysis in both fields. The conference will be held at the Dilijan Training and Research Center of the Central Bank of Armenia. 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.