ICEF graduates will receive diplomas from a Nobel prize-winner in Economics

In September 2016 ICEF will host a visit by Professor Sir Christopher Pissarides – an outstanding economist, Regius Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance.

During his visit Professor Pissarides will take part in ICEF Graduation Ceremony on September 16th. The ceremony annually takes place at the British Ambassador’s residence in Moscow.

Christopher Pissarides is an elected fellow of the British Academy, the Econometric Society, the European Economic Association and the Society of Labor Economists. He is also a member of Council of the European Economic Association, the chairman of the Economica board, and a member of other editorial boards, a research fellow of the Centre of Economic Performance at LSE, of the Centre for Economic Policy Research (London), and of the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Bonn).

Christopher Pissarides specialises in the economics of unemployment, labour-market theory, labour-market policy, and growth and structural change. He has written extensively in professional journals and his book 'Equilibrium Unemployment Theory', now in its second edition, is a standard reference in the economics of unemployment.

Professor Christopher Pissarides won a Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences in 2010 and an IZA Prize in Labor Economics in 2005.

During his visit Professor Pissarides will also give a short lecture for ICEF students: "The Future of Work: Employment in the Age of Robots"

Abstract: As technology advances, robots, artificial intelligence programs and other technologies are expected to do more and more of the work currently performed by humans. Does that mean that there will be no work left for humans to do, as some economists predicted? Will an egalitarian society be one where each one of its citizens owns a robot and sells the products of their robot for income? I will argue that not all industries can be successfully automated; in many service industries, such as healthcare in light of ageing populations, human contact is a vital part of the product experience. Work for humans will always be available. But what about general trends? Will this surge in technological advances create harmful rises in unemployment and inequality? Perhaps not. The lecture will make the case for new policies to redistribute wealth and favour those who have been left behind, without taking away the incentive to work