The Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) is an interdisciplinary
research institute of the
University of Louvain (UCLouvain) located in
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. Since 2010, it is part of the Louvain Institute of Data Analysis and Modeling in economics and statistics (LIDAM), along with the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES), Louvain Finance (LFIN) and the Institute of Statistics, Biostatistics and Actuarial Sciences (ISBA).
CORE integrates
fundamental
Fundamental may refer to:
* Foundation of reality
* Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental"
* Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...
and
applied research in the following key fields:
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
game theory,
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
, quantitative and economic
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
, and
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
. Researchers at CORE aim at developing a theoretical and methodological base for the analysis of decision problems related to
economic policy and the management of the
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
and
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
, the theory of
optimisation
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
and
statistics for the solution of design and
decision problems, and computational tools (algorithms and software).
History and international recognition
CORE was founded in
Leuven in 1966 at the initiative of
Jacques Drèze
Jacques H. Drèze (5 August 1929 – 25 September 2022) was a Belgian economist noted for his contributions to economic theory, econometrics, and economic policy as well as for his leadership in the economics profession. Drèze was the first P ...
, who is considered its founding father,
Anton Barten and Guy de Ghellinck. Initially, the center existed within the
Catholic University of Leuven. Following its split in 1968 to form the Dutch-speaking
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-speaking
Université catholique de Louvain, CORE moved to
Louvain-la-Neuve
Louvain-la-Neuve (, French for ''New Leuven''; wa, Li Noû Lovén) is a planned town in the municipality of Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Wallonia, Belgium, situated 30 km southeast of Brussels, in the province of Walloon Brabant. The town ...
in 1977 to join the latter.
CORE, the creation of which was inspired by the
Cowles Foundation
The Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics is an economic research institute at Yale University. It was created as the Cowles Commission for Research in Economics at Colorado Springs in 1932 by businessman and economist Alfred Cowles. In 193 ...
as well as the other institutions that
Jacques Drèze
Jacques H. Drèze (5 August 1929 – 25 September 2022) was a Belgian economist noted for his contributions to economic theory, econometrics, and economic policy as well as for his leadership in the economics profession. Drèze was the first P ...
had visited during his research work in the United States, brought economic modelling to Europe. Being a pioneer in the domain, CORE propelled Belgian and European economic research, which was very "local" at that time, into development. The center modernized it through the economic knowledge and research practices imported from the United States and contributed to its
internationalization
In economics, internationalization or internationalisation is the process of increasing involvement of enterprises in international markets, although there is no agreed definition of internationalization. Internationalization is a crucial strateg ...
, while at the same time creating a local economic culture in Europe, e.g., through
disequilibrium economics, which can be considered a French ‘trademark’ in
macroeconomics. Another element of the continental economic culture was the development of specific research forms, such as research teams, co-authorship and
peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
.
In 1966, CORE opened its doors with four academic members and three researchers on the staff. For comparison, today the center hosts around 40
faculty members including
emeritus professors, 26
associate fellows and
research associate
Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree.
In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...
s as well as over 40
doctoral and
postdoctoral researchers.
In 1967, CORE received a five-year grant from the
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
, which propelled the center into rapid development by attracting
faculty members and visitors. These researchers including
Gérard Debreu,
Truman Bewley
Truman Fassett Bewley (born July 19, 1941) is an American economist. He is the Alfred Cowles Professor of Economics at Yale University. Originally specializing in mathematical economics and general equilibrium theory, since the late 1990s Bewley ...
, Hildegard Dierker,
Birgit Grodal
Birgit Grodal (24 June 1943 - 4 May 2004), was an economics professor at the University of Copenhagen from 1968 until her death in 2004.
Early life
Birgit Grodal was born on 24 June 1943 in Copenhagen, Denmark. She grew up in Frederiksberg. She ...
,
David Schmeidler
David Schmeidler (1939 – 17 March 2022) was an Israeli mathematician and economic theorist. He was a Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the Ohio State University.
Biography
David Schmeidler was born in 1939 in Kraków, Poland. He ...
, Karl Vind and
Werner Hildenbrand gained CORE international recognition in the field of
mathematical economics. The time of the Ford grant coincided with the epoch of "Neo-Walrasian" economics at CORE, which also started the differentiation of disciplines. While initially, the research fields were integrated, at that time, there appeared the complementary, but independent disciplines of
mathematical economics,
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
. After the division of the disciplines,
disequilibrium economics became the major and most influential research area at CORE differentiating the center from the US practices and establishing it as a specific school in
macroeconomics.
By 1973, when the Ford grant ended, CORE had expanded its permanent
faculty to 21 members with about as many visitors. The maintenance of the center was taken over by the university, supported by external funding through various research contracts with the
Belgian government
The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-mini ...
and different organizations. With the disciplines becoming more and more differentiated,
mathematical programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
and
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
, initially minor fields, also developed and became important research areas at CORE. Thus,
Bayesian econometrics
Bayesian econometrics is a branch of econometrics which applies Bayesian principles to economic modelling. Bayesianism is based on a degree-of-belief interpretation of probability, as opposed to a relative-frequency interpretation.
The Bayesian ...
can be considered a trademark of the center, sometimes referred to as the "Belgian Bayesian School".
In 1977, CORE expanded into training activities by the creation of the European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics, later joined by the other partners. In 1985, the
European Economic Association
The European Economic Association (EEA) is a professional academic body which links European economists. It was founded in the mid-1980s. Its first annual congress was in 1986 in Vienna and its first president was Jacques Drèze. The current pres ...
was created at the initiative of
Jacques Drèze
Jacques H. Drèze (5 August 1929 – 25 September 2022) was a Belgian economist noted for his contributions to economic theory, econometrics, and economic policy as well as for his leadership in the economics profession. Drèze was the first P ...
(who became its first president), Jean Gabszewicz, Louis Phlips,
:fr:Jacques Thisse, and Jean Waelbroeck.
Today, CORE's major research fields include
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
,
game theory,
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
, quantitative and economic
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
. Its main objectives are fostering quality research, developing networking connections for scientific exchange and collaboration, training young
doctoral and
postdoctoral researcher
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...
s as well making professionals in the
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
and
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
benefit from scientific knowledge.
People
The permanent staff of CORE is generally constituted of some 40
faculty members coming from
UCLouvain, other Belgian and some neighbouring foreign universities (
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
Université libre de Bruxelles,
Université Saint-Louis - Bruxelles,
Université de Liège,
Université de Mons,
Université de Namur
The University of Namur or ''Université de Namur'' (UNamur),New name since September 2012, formerly ''Facultés Universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix'' (FUNDP)/ref> in Namur (Belgium), is a Jesuit, Catholic private university in the French Communi ...
,
Universiteit Maastricht
Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities.
In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...
,
Université de Lille and
Université du Luxembourg), as well as of several administrative employees.
Yearly, the center hosts an average of 25 researchers coming to CORE on long-term visits, including two categories of external visitors:
associate fellows and
research associate
Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree.
In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...
s working at CORE on a weekly and yearly basis respectively. They are appointed for two years subject to support of two CORE members, with the possibility to extend this period.
Associate fellows and
research associate
Research associates are researchers (scholars and professionals) that usually have an advanced degree beyond a Master's degree.
In some universities/research institutes, such as Harvard/Harvard Medical School/Harvard School of Public Health, th ...
s are expected to participate in all CORE activities including scientific projects, seminars and publications.
Yearly, several
research fellow
A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...
s receive CORE fellowships, postdoctoral grants distributed on a competitive basis for a period of time from one to three years. In the framework of its Ph.D. programs, the center hosts some 30
doctoral researchers per year.
In addition to the longer stays, CORE regularly receives
faculty and researchers coming on short visits from a few days to a few weeks.
With its members and visitors coming from institutions all over the world and every third research director appointed from among external researchers, CORE is characterised by an international working environment and attributes particular importance to research networking connections.
Research
CORE's major research areas are:
Economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
Game theory,
Econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
,
Operations Research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and Quantitative and Economic
Geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
.
Economics and game theory
Among the major research areas developed at CORE are traditionally
general equilibrium
In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an ov ...
(uncertainty,
incomplete markets In economics, incomplete markets are markets in which there does not exist an Arrow–Debreu security for every possible state of nature. In contrast with complete markets, this shortage of securities will likely restrict individuals from transferr ...
, computation of equilibrium, non-convexities in the production sector, introduction of money, price equilibria, unemployment study),
industrial economics
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the perfe ...
,
political economics
Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour mar ...
,
spatial economics,
public economics
Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve s ...
,
environmental economics
Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical or ...
,
decision theory
Decision theory (or the theory of choice; not to be confused with choice theory) is a branch of applied probability theory concerned with the theory of making decisions based on assigning probabilities to various factors and assigning numerical ...
,
macroeconomics as well as non-cooperative and cooperative game theory (
equilibrium concepts, uncertainty, cooperative solutions).
The current research in this area comprises theoretical, applied and empirical developments. It aims at providing a theoretical basis for the solution of market regulation and
public sector
The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, inf ...
organisation problems. The current research areas include
industrial organization
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the perf ...
,
public economics
Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improve s ...
and
political economy
Political economy is the study of how economic systems (e.g. markets and national economies) and political systems (e.g. law, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied phenomena within the discipline are systems such as labour ...
,
environmental economics
Environmental economics is a sub-field of economics concerned with environmental issues. It has become a widely studied subject due to growing environmental concerns in the twenty-first century. Environmental economics "undertakes theoretical or ...
,
welfare economics
Welfare economics is a branch of economics that uses microeconomic techniques to evaluate well-being (welfare) at the aggregate (economy-wide) level.
Attempting to apply the principles of welfare economics gives rise to the field of public ec ...
and
social choice theory
Social choice theory or social choice is a theoretical framework for analysis of combining individual opinions, preferences, interests, or welfares to reach a ''collective decision'' or ''social welfare'' in some sense.Amartya Sen (2008). "Soci ...
,
general equilibrium
In economics, general equilibrium theory attempts to explain the behavior of supply, demand, and prices in a whole economy with several or many interacting markets, by seeking to prove that the interaction of demand and supply will result in an ov ...
and various game-theoretical topics.
Econometrics
Econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
research at CORE is aimed at the development of quantitative models as well as statistical and computational methods applied to treating economic data.
Among the major CORE contributions in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
are
Bayesian estimation
In estimation theory and decision theory, a Bayes estimator or a Bayes action is an estimator or decision rule that minimizes the posterior expected value of a loss function (i.e., the posterior expected loss). Equivalently, it maximizes the pos ...
of
simultaneous equations systems (
Bayesian inference methods are widely used in research at CORE) and the concepts of weak and strong exogeneity used in
statistical inference. Other important research fields include
financial econometrics
Financial econometrics is the application of statistical methods to financial market data. Financial econometrics is a branch of financial economics, in the field of economics. Areas of study include capital markets, financial institutions, corpo ...
with such topics as the microstructure of
financial markets
A financial market is a market in which people trade financial securities and derivatives at low transaction costs. Some of the securities include stocks and bonds, raw materials and precious metals, which are known in the financial ma ...
or volatility models and structural econometrics.
The current research areas in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
are
financial econometrics
Financial econometrics is the application of statistical methods to financial market data. Financial econometrics is a branch of financial economics, in the field of economics. Areas of study include capital markets, financial institutions, corpo ...
,
time series econometrics and
Bayesian methods.
Operations research
Research in this field is related to
optimization
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
and
mathematical programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
. Among the major contribution areas are
discrete optimization
Discrete optimization is a branch of optimization in applied mathematics and computer science.
Scope
As opposed to continuous optimization, some or all of the variables used in a discrete mathematical program are restricted to be discrete varia ...
,
integer programming
An integer programming problem is a mathematical optimization or feasibility program in which some or all of the variables are restricted to be integers. In many settings the term refers to integer linear programming (ILP), in which the objective ...
and
convex optimization
Convex optimization is a subfield of mathematical optimization that studies the problem of minimizing convex functions over convex sets (or, equivalently, maximizing concave functions over convex sets). Many classes of convex optimization pr ...
. Research is also carried out in the fields of large energy investments, electricity transfers and markets and European market design and regulation as well as in
supply chain management.
Operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
is closely connected with
economic geography
Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics.
There are four branches of economic geography.
There is,
primary secto ...
through the use of
mathematical programming
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
methods in solving location
decision problems.
The current
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
areas include modelling and finding solutions to
industrial economics
In economics, industrial organization is a field that builds on the theory of the firm by examining the structure of (and, therefore, the boundaries between) firms and markets. Industrial organization adds real-world complications to the perfe ...
problems,
discrete optimization
Discrete optimization is a branch of optimization in applied mathematics and computer science.
Scope
As opposed to continuous optimization, some or all of the variables used in a discrete mathematical program are restricted to be discrete varia ...
,
linear
Linearity is the property of a mathematical relationship ('' function'') that can be graphically represented as a straight line. Linearity is closely related to '' proportionality''. Examples in physics include rectilinear motion, the linear ...
and
nonlinear optimization
In mathematics, nonlinear programming (NLP) is the process of solving an optimization problem where some of the constraints or the objective function are nonlinear. An optimization problem is one of calculation of the extrema (maxima, minima or sta ...
, and the calculation of equilibria.
Quantitative and economic geography
Research in
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
at CORE is closely connected with
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
, e.g. the joint study of the location of
human activities and their
environmental footprint
The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
. It is focused on the areas of quantitative and economic
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
and finds its applications in
land-use planning policy.
The current research areas in
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...
include location-allocation models,
transport geography and
sustainable mobility
Sustainable transport refers to ways of transportation that are sustainable in terms of their social and environmental impacts. Components for evaluating sustainability include the particular vehicles used for road, water or air transport; the ...
, spatial quantitative analyses,
human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
and
economic geography
Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics.
There are four branches of economic geography.
There is,
primary secto ...
.
Chairs and scientific projects
Around 30 scientific projects are developed yearly at CORE financed in the form of grants and contracts by the
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
and
private sector
The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government.
Employment
The ...
, including the
Belgian Federal Government
The Federal Government of Belgium ( nl, Federale regering, french: Gouvernement fédéral, german: Föderalregierung) exercises executive power in the Kingdom of Belgium. It consists of ministers and secretary of state ("junior", or deputy-min ...
, e.g., the
Belgian Federal Science Policy Office
The Federal Public Planning Service Science Policy ( nl, Programmatorische Federale Overheidsdienst Wetenschapsbeleid; french: Service public fédéral de programmation Politique scientifique; german: Föderaler Öffentlicher Programmierungsdienst ...
, the
Fund for Scientific Research – FNRS, the
Belgian French Community, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...
, e. g., the
European Research Council,
Framework Programmes, COST Actions, various Belgian and foreign public institutions, private enterprises, etc.
At CORE, there are currently three research chairs:
* ENGIE Chair in Energy Economics and Energy Risk Management funded by
ENGIE
Engie SA is a French multinational utility company, headquartered in La Défense, Courbevoie, which operates in the fields of energy transition, electricity generation and distribution, natural gas, nuclear, renewable energy and petroleum.
It ...
and supporting research in the field of
risk management in
energy market
Energy markets are national and international regulated markets that deal specifically with the trade and supply of energy. Energy market may refer to an electricity market, but can also refer to other sources of energy. Typically energy developme ...
s.
* Kronos Group Chair in Strategic Sourcing and Procurement financed by
Kronos Group, Belgium and combining research, teaching and networking activities in
strategic sourcing and procurement at the
Louvain School of Management
The Louvain School of Management (LSM, formerly IAG) is the international business school of the University of Louvain (UCLouvain), Belgium, founded in 1897. The faculty offers courses on the campuses of Louvain-la-Neuve, UCLouvain FUCaM Mons a ...
, both in the theoretical and practical domain.
* Chair Lhoist Berghmans in Environmental Economics and Management comprising teaching and research targeting the cost-benefit analysis of the application of
alternative technologies in industry and the evaluation of the impact of
industrial activities on the environment and the
standard of living.
Doctoral training
CORE regularly hosts some 30
Ph.D. students carrying out research under the supervision of its members. On average, around seven
doctoral dissertation
A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...
s are completed at CORE yearly with about 25 more in progress. The supervision is carried out in the framework of the doctoral programs of various UCLouvain departments related to the CORE research fields as well as of the following inter-institutional Ph.D. programs:
* The European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics (EDP) created in 1977 by CORE and organized jointly by the following institutions:
Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium),
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...
(France),
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine U ...
(Germany),
European University Institute
The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral teaching and research institute and an independent body of the European Union with juridical personality, established by the member states to contribu ...
(Italy),
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona (Spain),
London School of Economics and Political Science
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(UK) and
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...
(Israel) as an exchange partner. The program covers the fields of
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
,
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
game theory. It was ranked third among European Ph.D. programs in 2008.
* The European Doctorate in Economics Erasmus Mundus (EDEEM) federating the following institutions:
Universität Bielefeld
Bielefeld University (german: Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization a ...
(Germany) as the coordinator,
Universiteit van Amsterdam (the Netherlands),
Universidade Nova de Lisboa
NOVA University Lisbon ( pt, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, ), or just NOVA, is a Portuguese public university whose rectorate is located in Campolide, Lisbon. Founded in 1973, it is the newest of the public universities in the Portuguese capital c ...
(Portugal),
Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium),
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (France),
École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...
(France),
Università Ca'Foscari Venezia (Italy) as well as academic and non-academic partners. The program accepts students with various backgrounds though strong interest and knowledge in
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
mathematics are highly desirable.
Scientific events
Currently, eight seminars and reading groups are held at CORE on a regular basis including the three traditional weekly seminars in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
,
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
and
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and a seminar organized by ECORES, a joint association of CORE (
UCLouvain), ECARES (
Université libre de Bruxelles) and CES (
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven).
Among the scientific events organized at CORE are also regular doctoral workshops where Ph.D. students can present their completed and on-going research and lecture series hosting renowned scientists from Belgian and foreign academic institutions invited to the center to give lectures on topics related to its research areas.
CORE is a frequent organizer and co-organizer of various scientific events at the local and international level, held both at CORE and other institutions in Belgium and abroad: conferences, meetings, workshops, forums, schools, etc. CORE members regularly attend external seminars, conferences and meetings, most often to present a paper, and are invited to other institutions for academic stays and visits.
Publications
CORE currently issues three scientific paper series:
* CORE Discussion Papers
The Discussion Paper Series includes the papers produced by all CORE members or visitors during their stay at CORE open for discussion pending publication in scientific journals.
* CORE Reprints
The CORE Reprints comprise all published papers written by its members and visitors.
* CORE Lecture Series
This series was created in 1987 with the CORE Foundation, a privately financed international scientific association aiming to support research in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...
,
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and
economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
as well as scientific cooperation and training in these fields. The CORE Lecture Series is constituted of the presentations of renowned scientists invited to the center to give lectures in research areas related to CORE.
Apart from the CORE Discussion Paper and Reprint Series, CORE members and visitors contribute to the production of various external scientific papers including journal publications: mimeos, manuscripts, reviews, research papers, working and discussions papers, conference proceedings, lecture notes, guides, technical reports, etc. Likewise, several books and edited books as well as newspaper articles are published yearly by CORE researchers. CORE members and visitors are equally involved in various editorial activities working as editors-in-chief, members of the editorial board and of the scientific committee, editors, co-editors, invited editors, etc. of different scientific journals.
Awards and honours
Among the scientific distinctions received by CORE members are:
Lanchester Prize,
Francqui Prize
The Francqui Prize is a prestigious Belgian scholarly and scientific prize named after Émile Francqui. Normally annually since 1933, the Francqui Foundation awards it in recognition of the achievements of a scholar or scientist, who at the start ...
, Francqui Chair,
European Research Council Advanced and Starting Grants, EURO Gold Medal,
Honoris Causa Doctorate, Dantzig Prize,
John von Neumann Theory Prize
The John von Neumann Theory Prize of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)
is awarded annually to an individual (or sometimes a group) who has made fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operat ...
, European Prize in Regional Science, Robert C. Witt Award, De la Vega Prize, Walter Isard Award, Kulp-Wright Book award, Wernaers Prize, Social Choice and Welfare Prize, Emile de Laveleye Prize, William Alonso Memorial Prize, Ferdinand de Lesseps Prize, Risques–Les Echos Prize, SIAM Activity Group on Optimization Prize, etc., various thesis awards (Savage Award, Ernst Meyer Prize, Sogesci-BVWB Prize, Orbel Award, etc.) as well as (honorary) memberships and fellowships within different academic, research and other institutions.
Some renowned researchers at CORE
Among the renowned researchers having contributed to the work of CORE through visits, publications and participation in seminars and conferences are, the list being non-exhaustive:
Kenneth Arrow
Kenneth Joseph Arrow (23 August 1921 – 21 February 2017) was an American economist, mathematician, writer, and political theorist. He was the joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences with John Hicks in 1972.
In economics ...
,
Robert Aumann
Robert John Aumann (Hebrew name: , Yisrael Aumann; born June 8, 1930) is an Israeli-American mathematician, and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew ...
,
Claude d'Aspremont,
Gérard Debreu, Marc Fleurbaey,
John Geanakoplos,
Victor Ginsburgh
Victor Alexandre Ginsburgh (born 1939 in Rwanda-Urundi) is a Belgian economist. Biography
Ginsburgh was born in 1939 into an expatriate family: "My father was only a white Russian, and my mother an Austrian Jew".
Victor Ginsburgh studied at the ...
,
Michel Goemans,
Christian Gouriéroux,
Patrick Harker,
Werner Hildenbrand,
Matthew Jackson,
Thomas Magnanti, ,
Eric Maskin,
Franco Modigliani
Franco Modigliani (18 June 1918 – 25 September 2003) was an Italian-American economist and the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He was a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Carnegie Mellon Un ...
,
Roger Myerson,
George Nemhauser
George Lann Nemhauser (born 1937). is an American operations researcher, the A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Institute Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the former president of the Oper ...
,
Arkadi Nemirovski
Arkadi Nemirovski (born March 14, 1947) is a professor at the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has been a leader in continuous optimization and is best known for his work ...
,
Yurii Nesterov
Yurii Nesterov is a Russian mathematician, an internationally recognized expert in convex optimization, especially in the development of efficient algorithms and numerical optimization analysis. He is currently a professor at the University of L ...
,
Ariel Rubinstein
Ariel Rubinstein (Hebrew: אריאל רובינשטיין; born April 13, 1951) is an Israeli economist who works in economic theory, game theory and bounded rationality.
Biography
Ariel Rubinstein is a professor of economics at the School of Ec ...
,
Thomas Sargent
Thomas John Sargent (born July 19, 1943) is an American economist and the W.R. Berkley Professor of Economics and Business at New York University. He specializes in the fields of macroeconomics, monetary economics, and time series econometric ...
,
Reinhard Selten
Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (; 5 October 1930 – 23 August 2016) was a German economist, who won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with John Harsanyi and John Nash). He is also well known for his work in boun ...
,
Lloyd Shapley
Lloyd Stowell Shapley (; June 2, 1923 – March 12, 2016) was an American mathematician and Nobel Prize-winning economist. He contributed to the fields of mathematical economics and especially game theory. Shapley is generally considered one of ...
,
Joseph Stiglitz, ,
Jean Tirole
Jean Tirole (born 9 August 1953) is a French professor of economics at Toulouse 1 Capitole University. He focuses on industrial organization, game theory, banking and finance, and economics and psychology. In 2014 he was awarded the Nobel Memor ...
and
Laurence Wolsey
Laurence Alexander Wolsey is an English mathematician working in the field of integer programming. He is a former president and research director of the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE) at Université catholique de Louvain in ...
.
References
# Amir, R. and Knauff, M., "Ranking Economics Departments Worldwide On the Basis of Ph.D. Placement". Review of Economics and Statistics 90 (1), 185- 190, 2008
Düppe, T., "When Modern Economics Learned French: Jacques Drèze and the Foundation of CORE"website
website
European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics (EDP)website
European Doctorate in Economics Erasmus Mundus (EDEEM)website
web page
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Education in Belgium
Econometrics
Université catholique de Louvain
Educational institutions established in 1966
1966 establishments in Belgium