CBM hosts Fulbright Scholar Professor Andrew Narwold

The Central Bank of Malta (CBM) hosted Fulbright Scholar Professor Andrew Narwold, of the Department of Economics at the University of San Diego, between 4 March and 15 March, who delivered seminars and lectures to industry professionals during his stay in Malta, according to a press statement issued by the CBM.

Professor Narwold, who is also affiliated with the Energy Policy Initiatives Centre, has an expertise in market economics and consumer financial decisions. During his stay, he conducted advanced classes on statistical methods for the construction of quality-adjusted house price indices for the Central Bank of Malta’s Economic Analysis Department.

Mr Narwold also gave two in-depth seminars to the staff of CBM and the National Statistics Office (NSO) on statistical techniques and applied empirical research. The professor also reviewed research by bank economists aimed at publication in a specialist as well as general dissemination, according to the press statement by CBM.

In line with CBM’s strategic support to the University of Malta — aimed at strengthening the economics profession in Malta —, the professor also held lectures on game theory, available to postgraduate economics students, an essential part of the intermediate microeconomics curriculum. These lectures covered decision theory, strategic form games, extensive form games, Bayesian games, mechanism design, infinite horizon games, repeated games and evolutionary games.

“Professor Narwold’s visit contributed to developing a sounder understanding of issues such as house price measures, which issue is very relevant to these fields of activity,” the central bank says.

The bank says it is poised to launch other bilateral academic exchange programs with some important UK universities.

The central bank hosted a US Fulbright Scholar for the first time, and the visit was due to the assistance of the US Embassy in Malta, the bank says.

The Fulbright program is sponsored by the United States Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is one of the most prestigious and competitive academic exchange programs in the world.

The two seminar presentations are available on the Central Bank of Malta’s website.