Georgetown Professor Hosts International Research Conference

Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) Professor Alexis Antoniades recently organized a conference in Washington, D.C. which allowed leading international scholars to share their research and expertise. The event was hosted in partnership with the Massive Data Institute at Georgetown University.

“The International Comparison Program/Purchasing Power Parities (ICP/PPP) conference is an annual gathering of a selected group of top scholars across the globe that work on measurement issues,” explained Antoniades, Director of International Economics and Associate Professor at GU-Q. “The papers presented at the conference provide the latest in methodology, data, and theories used to provide better measures of prices, growth, and productivity across time and space.”

The conference coincided with the 50 year anniversary of the inception of the ICP, which provides data to governments and agencies to help with the design and monitoring of policies. The ICP is the largest global data initiative led by the World Bank, under the auspices of the United Nations, with the participation of about 200 countries and 20 multilateral agencies.

Participants shared their research across a range of topics, from effective statistical measurement to harnessing the potential of big data. Many of the innovations presented at the conference help enhance the way prices are measured across the world by the World Bank, and a number of the participants in the conference serve on the ICP’s Technical Advisory Group or on technical committees.

“The work presented at the conference is trying to answer some very important questions,” said Antoniades. “Such as, how can big data help us improve measurement issues? How do we account for differences in quality when comparing the cost of services (e.g. health care, transportation) across the world? How do we incorporate benefits from the digital economy in measures of productivity and growth? These are all key questions that academics, policy makers, statistical agencies across the world are very much interested in.”

The conference coincided with an event hosted by the World Bank to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ICP, featuring a range of notable speakers including World Bank Group CEO Kristalina Georgieva; Nobel Laureate and Emeritus Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University, Angus Deaton; and Georgetown University Provost Robert M. Groves.