The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics, Michael Kremer, held a high-level meeting with the ministers of the Presidency, Joel Santos; of Economy, Planning and Development, Pável Isa Contreras; of Finance, José Manuel (Jochi) Vicente, and of Public Administration, Darío Castillo,
The dialogue took place at the headquarters of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development, where the ministers of the institutions that make up the Dominican Government Monitoring Commission and Kremer discussed the evaluation of public policies and their role in the public budget as a guarantee of the quality of spending.
“We have a firm interest in strengthening our evaluation capacities,” said Minister Isa Contreras, who thanked Kremer and the team of specialists accompanying him from the University of Chicago for their presence. The meeting was an open conversation, in which the possibility of collaboration and the challenges facing the country were discussed.
The Nobel laureate in economics, Michael Kremer, said that “in our individual research and through collective work or efforts such as those of the present team, we try to create long-term connections with government organizations and institutions; we try that the basic approach is to learn the ideas they develop, and that we can see that in perspective there may be several ideas that can be developed”.
The Deputy Ministers of Government Monitoring and Coordination of the Ministry of the Presidency, José Ramón Holguín, and of Planning and Public Investment, Luis Madera Sued, participated in the conversation, as well as the Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Council, Peter Prazmowski, and the person in charge of Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Economy, Mabely Díaz.
Vice Minister Madera emphasized the importance of evaluating public policies in order to have the desired impact.
Meeting of the Governmental Evaluation Committee with Nobel Laureate Michael Kremer
The participants in the meeting agreed that there is a great opportunity with these issues. They also stressed the importance of having high-level research that is of interest to academia.
The first official visit to the country of Kremer and his academic team from the University of Chicago, is on the occasion that the renowned economist will inaugurate with a keynote speech the International Forum on Evaluation for Development 2023, to be held from October 18 to 20, through which the Ministry of Economy strengthens the National Monitoring and Evaluation System (SNMyE), while showing the initiatives and progress made by the current Government of the Dominican Republic in terms of evaluation of public policies.
Kremer’s conference will take place at the Aula Magna of the UASD this October 18, starting at 5pm.
Michael Kremer is Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Chicago, and Founder of the Development Economics Center (DEC) and the Development Innovation Lab (DIL).
He was joined at the meetings by Ben Krause, Executive Director of the Development Economics Center (DEC); Ryan Cooper, Director at the Development Economics Center and in charge of Government Innovation.
In addition, Carolina Concha-Arriagada, postdoctoral researcher at DIL; Guthrie Gray-Lobe, senior researcher at DIL; Michael Dinerstein, assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago; Diana Mueses, Public Policy consultant at the Development Economics Center (DEC) and Matheus Proença, Research Professional at DIL.
FIED 2023
Kremer, an expert in evaluation, is currently the director of The Development Innovation Lab (DIL) at the University of Chicago, will speak this Wednesday 18 in the Aula Magna of the UASD on the experimental method in economics, which earned him the Nobel Prize in 2019; about which he explained that it can be used as a tool to isolate the impacts of programs, allowing a cycle of innovation and inform on the scope of public policies.
The method, likewise, will drive institutions to stimulate social innovation, both in government innovation units and open, tiered, evidence-based social innovation funds.
Kremer’s participation in the forum is part of the steps being taken by the Ministry of Economy to build a strong collaborative base to advance joint work with key stakeholders.
Source: Mepyd.gob.do
