Partnership with Academia
MAS is supportive of the development of the research and development capacity in areas relevant to insurance, in order to facilitate the development of robust pricing and risk models in the industry. The Institute of Catastrophe Risk Management (ICRM) was launched in January 2010, and is the first multi-disciplinary risk management institute of its kind in Asia. The ICRM, supported by the finance, insurance and reinsurance industry, will develop models and tools to allow governments and the industry to better understand potential Asian catastrophe losses and develop risk management strategies.
In addition, the Insurance Risk and Finance Research Centre which was a collaboration between French reinsurer SCOR and the Nanyang Business School, was launched in March 2011. It aims to produce research that will help the insurance industry meet Asia's growing protection needs and encourage a greater culture of research and dialogue on insurance and actuarial science issues.
In October 2010, Professor Barry Eichengreen, the inaugural Term Professor in Economics and Finance, made his second visit to MAS and NUS under the joint Professorship set up in March last year. He presented a public lecture on "The Long-term Consequences of the Financial Crisis", and was also invited by IBF to deliver the keynote speech at their Distinguished Speakers' Series-cum-Gala Dinner. MAS and NUS appointed Professor Michael Spence, 2001 Nobel Laureate in economic science, as the second Term Professor in May 2011. During his visit here, Professor Spence shared his insights on the global economy with members of the MAS Board, MAS economists, and faculty and students at NUS. He also delivered a public lecture on the key findings from his latest book "The Next Convergence: The Future of Economic Growth in a Multi-speed World", which explored the wide-ranging dynamics of economic growth and proposed recommendations on how to sustain the pace of development in emerging market economies. He will return to Singapore in September 2011 on the second leg of the term appointment. The professorship programme aims to strengthen Singapore's financial and economic research infrastructure and contribute to a vibrant research community and culture at local universities.
MAS hosted other academics under its Eminent Visitor Programme during the year. Professor John Williamson of the Peterson Institute for International Economics visited MAS in January 2011. During his visit, he exchanged views with MAS staff on various international monetary issues including topics related to capital flows and exchange rate regimes. In addition, MAS hosted Nobel Laureate Professor Edward Prescott (Arizona State University), Professor Frank Warnock (University of Virginia), Professor Jeffrey Frankel (Harvard University) and Professor Eswar Prasad (Cornell University). The Economic Policy Group also consulted with Assistant Professor Davin Chor and Professor Jun Yu from SMU on specific research projects, while Professor Peter Phillips (Yale University) and Professor Ilian Mihov (INSEAD Singapore) contributed special feature articles to the Economic Policy Group's Macroeconomic Review.
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