New York, NY, and Waterloo, Canada — December 23, 2013 — Two Canadians are among 23 recipients of a total of $2.1 million in grants for research projects, announced by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Institute for New Economic Thinking (the Institute).
The grants are part of the 2013 round of the CIGI-Institute Research Grant Program, aimed at finding solutions for the world’s most pressing economic problems. To date, the organizations have awarded more than $22 million in grants since the program’s initial 2010 round.
In the current round of grants, the recipients affiliated with Canadian universities are:
- Environment and Dynamics of Regional Innovation
Joel Blit, University of Waterloo, and Christopher Liu, University of Toronto
- The Middle Class and China's Economic Development
Terry Sicular, University of Western Ontario, and Shi Li, Beijing Normal University
CIGI, based in Waterloo, Ontario, is an independent, nonpartisan think tank addressing international governance challenges. The Institute, based in New York, is an organization created to promote changes in economic theory and practice through conferences, grants, and education initiatives.
In response to the inadequacy of existing economic knowledge, as revealed by the global financial crisis, the CIGI-Institute Research Grant Program identifies key areas in economics that require significant attention and supports the research that addresses these gaps.
“Issues related to climate change, inequality and the continuing effects of the most recent financial crisis, underscore the importance of equipping economists with the right tools to design solutions to the world’s most pressing problems,” CIGI President Rohinton P. Medhora said. “The Research Grant Program is one of the many ways CIGI and the Institute are supporting economists for the next generation of issues scholars and practitioners will face.”
“Each of these grants was carefully targeted to tackle a pressing economic issue,” Institute President Rob Johnson said. “Their focus on core themes such as behavior and the economy, financial stability, the dynamics of inequality, and the economics of innovation, ensure that they will challenge traditional economic assumptions and will force researchers to consider different possibilities. Ultimately, these researchers and the other grantees in our joint program with CIGI will help us create the better maps we desperately need to navigate through the economic challenges of the 21st century.”
For more information on the CIGI-Institute partnership, including the Research Grant Program, visit: http://www.cigionline.org/INET
CIGI MEDIA CONTACT:
Declan Kelly, Communications Specialist, the Centre for International Governance Innovation
Tel: 519.885.2444, ext. 7356, Email: [email protected]
INSTITUTE MEDIA CONTACT:
Eric J. Weiner, Senior Editor and Director of Communications, Institute for New Economic Thinking
Tel: 646-751-4915, Email: [email protected]
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, then co-CEO of Research In Motion (BlackBerry), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit www.cigionline.org.
The Institute for New Economic Thinking (the Institute) is a New York City-based economic research and education foundation designed to broaden and accelerate the development of a new field of economic thought that will lead to real-world solutions to the great economic and social challenges of the 21st century. Created in response to the global financial crisis of 2008, the Institute is supporting this fundamental shift in economic ideas by funding academic research, building communities of new economic thinkers, and spreading the word about the need for change. For more information, please visit www.ineteconomics.org.