The PEGNet Methodological Workshops were an opportunity unlike many others for young students and upcoming researchers.  These workshops provided ASE students and researchers with opportunities to learn from the lauded academics that attended the PEGNet conference  in a more intimate classroom setting.

It was in this way that over 40 ASE Masters and Pre-Doctorate Students and Research Assistants participated in workshops lead by Modibo Sidibe (Assistant Professor of Economics, Duke University), Tobias Stoehr (Senior Researcher, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy,  Leonard Wantchekon (Professor of Politics, Princeton University), and Daniel Ahelegbey (Visiting Assistant Professor, African School of Economics). Over the course of two days the four presenters worked with students on topics of their own work and research. This opening with presentations from Modibo Sidibe who focused on   Structural Econometric. Specifically he focused on estimating the “deep parameters” of macroeconomic labour models.

Tobias Stoehr followed Dr. Sidibe to talk about Big Data Analysis in Economics. His work went into depth on the types of big data and its applications in various settings. The workshop days wrapped up with presentations from ASEs own Daniel Ahelegbey and Leonard Wantchekon who discussed Institutions and Networks. Ahelegbey opened with an introduction to  the analysis of networks, the characterization of networks and statistical inference from networks. Wantchekon finished the workshop with a presentation on models used for studying the intrinsic effects of institutions, including his research conducted in Benin and the Philippines.

Through this workshop, students and researchers from the African School of Economics were exposed to highly informative workshops from field experts, learning directly from their research and teachings. They had the opportunity to continue their work from the classroom and to discuss new topics in an alternative setting. ASEs masters programs enriches students studies with such opportunities year round, including the recent Africa Meeting of the Econometrics Society, The Summer Institute for Economic Research, and other such conferences, workshops, and seminars.