My name is Hicham Makkaoui and I am from Morocco.
I hold an engineering degree in Applied Economics from the National Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics (INSEA), Morocco. For more than 15 years, I have been working as an economist at the Modeling Division of the High Commission for Planning (HCP). My job consisted mainly of adapting economy-wide models to the Moroccan economy (theory, database, estimation, sensitivity analysis, validation). Then, using these tools for assessing the impact of economic policies and shocks on issues like economic growth, poverty, inequality, distribution of income, allocation of productive resources in the economy etc.
Recently, my whole attention turned to the most urgent issue facing the world and the planet, which is climate change. More precisely, I am focusing now on climate change in developing countries, its economic, social and distributional impact. And from a policy perspective, I am trying to bring about evidence-based answers on how governments could intervene through adaptation and mitigation policies in order to tackle this issue and hence pursue the progress towards achieving sustainable development.
I have chosen the MESCI because I believe it can equip me with the analytical, empirical and even human skills to pursue my research in this topic and in my entire career. Firstly, because it has a rich and tailored content, as it combines basic economic subjects with advanced ones, and classic development issues with sustainable ones (climate change) as well as delving into the field of international cooperation. Secondly, it provides enrolled students with a unique opportunity to interact with international organizations (FAO, IFAD, WFP, ILO etc…) either through courses given by their key experts and practitioners, or through internships’ opportunities. Finally, it offers a multicultural environment, thus providing the adequate conditions for anyone seeking to pursue a career in the field of economic development either as a researche