On 21 November 2025, the latest edition of the now well-established macroeconomic modelling panel took place as part of the annual conference of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. The panel was jointly organized by the Department of Economics and the Department of Statistics and Econometrics.

This year’s theme was “Labour Market, Demographic Developments, and Growth”, and colleagues from the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), and Sofia University presented up-to-date reports on the present and future of Bulgaria.

Key highlights included:

• Job-search behaviour and optimization models – presented through a highly technical study by Assist. Prof. Dr. Iliya Atanasov (Department of Economics), developed jointly with Prof. Dr. Stefan Petranov (Department of Economics) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Alexander Mihailov (University of Reading). The research was conducted within the project “Adapting the labour market to socio-economic dynamics, technological modernisation, demographic change, and educational restructuring in the context of euro area membership”, financed by the National Science Fund.
• Labour market participation and the factors influencing parents’ decisions – an important topic presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Elitsa Dimitrova from the Institute for Population and Human Studies at BAS.
• Demographic trajectories and their implications for growth, inflation, and public finances – a comprehensive quantitative analysis, crucial for future economic policymaking, prepared by Ventsislav Ivanov and Desislava Tsvetkova (BNB) in collaboration with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey Vassilev (Department of Statistics and Econometrics).
• The potential for technology and capital to compensate for the shrinking labour force – based on an original macroeconomic model and a practical web application developed by colleagues from the Department of Statistics and Econometrics: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andrey Vassilev, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kaloyan Ganev, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ralitsa Simeonova-Ganeva. The research was conducted within the project “Impact of Demographic Dynamics on the Labour Market: Estimating the Effects on Key Macroeconomic Indicators and Application for Bulgaria” under the “Sofia University – Marker for Innovation and Technology Transfer (SUMMIT)” initiative.

The discussion brought together colleagues from the International Monetary Fund’s office in Bulgaria, members of the Governing Council of the BNB, leading experts from commercial banks and the analytics sector, faculty members from UK universities, as well as students from the Bachelor's program in “Economics and Finance” and the faculty’s master's and doctoral programs.

Once again, the panel demonstrated the importance of the connection between academic research and economic practice. The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration continues to be a place where academic discussions involving researchers, practitioners, students, and PhD candidates are held regularly, professionally, and with strong analytical grounding.

Our sincere thanks to all colleagues and guests for their active participation and meaningful contributions!