With support from the Uruguay office of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the first of two workshops aimed at training government officials in the theory and practice of Computable General Equilibrium Models (CGEM) took place at the Spanish Cooperation Training Center in Montevideo from Thursday, June 6 to Tuesday, June 11.
This tool allows for building equation systems that link merchandise markets, economic activities, production factors, institutions and foreign relations, in an integrated framework. They are based on Social Accounting Matrixes, and their results are coherent with the statistics of countries’ Systems of National Accounts. Given the high extent of information they utilize, the CGEM are based on algorithms to obtain equilibrium solutions.
Participants in the workshop included officials from the areas of evaluation and planning of the Ministries of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Economy and Finance, Social Development and the Planning and Budget Office of Uruguay.
As a result of the training, the participating offices will have a CGE model constructed based on their own needs and capacities. This will lead to a more complete evaluation of the effects of a given policy on productive, social and commercial spheres and public finances.
The training was led by economist Martín Cicowiez, a professor from the Center for Distributive, Labor and Social Studies (CEDLAS) at the National University of La Plata (Argentina).
