PERI hosted the “Edaily-PERI Special Symposium” in the Ruby Hall of the Shilla Hotel on Tuesday, June 18th, as the opening event of the Edaily Strategy Forum, which runs for three days.
Leading researchers from renowned global research institutions, including the Brookings Institution, the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), and MDRC, participated to discuss evidence-based fiscal, population, and immigration policies for South Korea.
PERI which was established in May 2022 aims to promote an era of policy-driven politics. Following last year’s PERI Symposium 2023 held at the COEX Auditorium in June, PERI has once again invited global experts in policy to discuss policy reform.
For this year’s symposium, Chong-Bum An, the president of PERI, visited the Brookings Institution, IRP, and MDRC beforehand. In particular, PERI plans to collaborate on future research with the three institutions based on the presentations and discussions held at this symposium.
The “Edaily-PERI Special Symposium” was featured with three sessions. Session 1, held in the morning, focused on fiscal policy. Session 2 discussed Population policy, and Session 3 was dedicated to immigration policy.
Session 1 began with a presentation by Louise Sheiner(Senior Fellow of Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, The Brookings Institution) on “Fiscal Challenges in the U.S. and the Fiscal Ship Game.” This was followed by Chul-In Lee (Professor of the Department of Economics at Seoul National University), who presented on “Rising National Debt Fiscal Reform for Korea.” Lastly, Chong-Bum An(President of Policy Evaluation Research Institute(PERI)) and Young-Jun Chun (Professor of the Division of Economics and Finance at Hanyang University) presented “Introducing ‘PERI Budget Game’ as an Evidence-Based Policy Tool.”
Session 2 featured key professors from the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin discussing Population policy. The session began with Barbara Wolfe, Richard A easterlin Professor of the Economics and Public Affairs at Institute for Research on Poverty(IRP), University of Wisconsin-Madison, presenting “Insight into Fertility and implications for Policy in South Korea.” This was followed by Timothy Smeeding, Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics at University of Wisconsin-Madison, who presented on “Fertility Rates, Immigration? Policies Needed for South Korea.” Lastly, Marcy Carlson, Associate Dean of Graduate Education and Sewell-Bascom, Professor of Sociology at University of Wisconsin-Madison, presented “Effective Demographic Policies for Korea.”
Session 3 was dedicated to discussing evidence-based immigration policies with researchers from MDRC, a prominent American research institution. The first presentation was by Professor Hyun-Sook Kim, Professor of the Department of Economics at Soongsil University, on “Effects and Alternatives of South Korea’s Pro Natal Policies.” This was followed by Cynthia Miller, Senior Fellow of Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation(MDRC), who presented on “Building evidence with randomized controlled trials : Examples from the U.S.” James Riccio, Principal Research Fellow of Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation(MDRC), then discussed “Using Randomized Trials to Test Innovations Related to Immigration and Other Policies in Response to Declining Birth Rates in Korea.”
The event was significant as it brought together experts in fiscal, population, and immigration policies from major American research institutions such as the Brookings Institution, IRP, and MDRC to discuss and provide recommendations tailored to the domestic context. Chong-Bum An(President of PERI) expressed his expectations for the event, stating, “I hope this event will facilitate productive discussions among domestic and international experts on the direction of South Korea’s fiscal, population, and immigration policies.”
<PERI, Policy Evaluation Research Institute>
