In January 2018, an IMF Working Paper published new results on the shadow economy situation for 158 countries from 1991 to 2015. According to Medina and Schneider (2018), the shadow economy in Georgia during that period constituted, on average, 64.9% of GDP – the highest indicator in the world! In 2015 (the last year available), things were slightly better for Georgia, with the share of the shadow economy standing at 53%.

ISET would like to congratulate resident faculty member Norberto Pignatti on the publication of a new paper (together with Hartmut Lehmann of the University of Bologna) entitled “Informal Employment Relationships and the Labor Market: Is there Segmentation in Ukraine?”, in the IZA Discussion Paper Series, from the Institute of Labor Economics, Bonn (the series is ranked 6th worldwide for economics by IDEAS/RePEc).

About half of the world’s population are living in cities. Rapid urbanization puts pressure on urban infrastructure and labor markets, also contributes to environmental degradation, and speeds up the instability of construction projects and dwellings. Climate change is yet another cause that will harm the stability of cities. A solid and global plan on how to tackle urban planning is therefore much needed, which is why the New Urban Agenda was endorsed by the UN in 2016.

From February 19 to March 5, ISET hosted Professor Stephan von Cramon-Taubadel, a prominent agricultural economist who currently holds the Agricultural Policy Chair at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development at the University of Göttingen, Germany. Professor Cramon-Taubadel also serves as Secretary-Treasurer of the International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).

I believe we all are bound by the notion that technology is the thing. We might be convinced it’s a sign of progress. Those very clever engineers have finally saved humanity, not just by envisioning what will save the masses from wasting their minutes and seconds, but they also help to propel all sorts of time-saving devices. There are, of course, good reasons to argue for how important technological advances are.