On Tuesday 10 July, a collaboration agreement was signed in Madrid by the Secretary of State for Budgets and Expenditure of the Ministry of Finance and Public Administration, the Secretary of State for the Economy and Business Support of the Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness, the Rafael del Pino Foundation, BBVA, the University of Valencia (Estudi General) and the Private Foundation for Analytical Economics.
The objective of the agreement is to develop economic models and other useful tools for the analysis, design and evaluation of public policies aimed at promoting macroeconomic stability and full employment, economic growth, regional cohesion and convergence with the countries around us.
The IEI researchers, José E. Boscá and Javier Ferri, will carry out assessment and analysis work for the two ministries. The agreement aims to update and extend the macroeconomic simulation model called REMS (acronym for "Rational Expectations Model of the Spanish Economy"). REMS is a dynamic general equilibrium model designed for the simulation and evaluation of macroeconomic policies in the Spanish economy. The model was developed in 2007-08 by a team of researchers from the IEI, together with technicians from the then Ministry of Economy.
The model is being used in recent years as a tool for simulating economic policy measures and therefore as a tool for assessing the feasibility of such measures in advance. The aim of this agreement is to develop the model so that special attention can be paid to the role of the financial sector and the interaction of the Spanish economy with the rest of the EU.
The agreement will be co-financed by the Rafael del Pino Foundation and BBVA. It will also involve researchers from the Barcelona Private Foundation for Analytical Economics, whose work will focus on the evaluation and design of regional cohesion policies.
