Exchange to Change Sept 2017 20170911 E2C zomer web | Page 5

AT I O B
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Factual information
Title of your PhD: Government Finances and Financial
Shocks in Developing Economies
‘unconventional’ monetary policies
adopted by the Fed and European
Central Bank. These policies
were implemented as response
to diverse forms of financial
crisis witnessed since the recent
‘Great Recession’. In addition to
assessing the vulnerability of small
and financially open developing
economies to external financial
shocks, the essay sheds light on how
monetary policy conducts of world’s
major central banks, especially
recent ‘experimental’ policies, have
‘unintended’ consequences for
developing economies.
E2C: What was the worst, most
difficult moment in your PhD?
KM: I couldn’t really think of a time
I could say was my ‘worst moment’.
Nonetheless, I certainly recall some
challenging times. A good example is
the last year of my PhD journey, when
I became a father. Combining the
final, and perhaps most demanding
phase of the PhD, with nightly baby
feeding and diaper changing sessions
was a test. As many parents would
know, sometimes you don’t sleep
well and then you can’t focus the
next day. However, it was all worth it!
E2C: To conclude, can you tell
us the most important thing you
have learned during your PhD?
Other ongoing/future research activities: At the moment,
I work as a researcher for the ‘Belgian Policy Research
Group on Financing for Development’ (BeFinD). This re-
search group is financed by Belgium’s main development
policy bureau, Directorate-General for Development
cooperation - DGD. We provide research-based policy
support for the development agency. Part of my duty
(together with my colleagues at University of Namur and
other universities) is to conduct research on ‘value-added
tax (VAT)’ reforms and ‘tax evasion’ in Belgium’s partner
countries (mainly in Africa and Latin America). The
objective is to improve ‘Domestic Resource Mobilization
(DRM)’ in partner countries, which also follows the UN’s
current ‘Financing for Development’ agenda.
Preferred leisure activity: In my free time, I like travelling.
I like seeing new places, enjoying different cuisines and
experiencing cultures. I also greatly enjoy spending time
with family and friends. Apart from that, I like playing
with my little boy and teaching him some tricks.
KM: I guess I don’t have a single
answer to this question since I
learned many different things
throughout these years. Of course,
I learned a lot about the very
topic I was researching and the
methodologies I utilized. I also
improved on other competencies
such as multitasking. This
particularly became useful as I had to
combine my PhD with a job and other
research activities.
E xchange to change S eptember 2017