Women are generally under-represented in political offices worldwide, and their under-representation becomes larger in more senior positions. In the first brief, the author reviews some recent academic literature in economics and political science on the likely causes of women’s under-representation. Broadly speaking, the literature has divided such causes into “supply-side” and “demand-side” factors.

In early February, Dr. Leruth gave a presentation to the G20's Task Force on Multilateralism and Global Governance. His address, entitled "Identifying Ultimate Beneficial Owners: A risk-based approach to improve the transparency of international financial flows", is also the key aspect of a research paper that is being co-authored and produced by representatives from the universities of Liege and Tilburg; it will be published by July. To have a member of ISET's faculty address members of a G20 Task Force is an extremely proud moment for ISET.

On July 21, ISET Policy Institute (ISET-PI) held an online presentation 'Development of Indirect Impact Assessment Methodology and Multipliers'.

On December 10, ISET was visited by Nino Chelidze, Executive Director of the International Education Center, whose presentation, 'Scholarship programs and study abroad opportunities for Georgian Students', explained the mission and objectives of the International Education Center (IEC), center's ongoing and future scholarship programmes designed for students interested in pursuing their education abroad.

On November 19, ISET was visited by Mr. Alan Fuchs of the World Bank Group, whose presentation, 'Taxing Tobacco in Georgia: The welfare and distributional gains of quitting smoking’, delved into the welfare and distributional impact of increasing taxes on tobacco in Georgia.