Dr. Moez Ben Tahar, Faculty Member at Finance and Banking Department, at the College of Business Administration, received the Best Paper Award. This came during his participation in the Third Economic Research Forum (ERF) and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Conference, in an Ear of Energy Transition. The Conference was hosted by King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC), Riyadh, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the period 30-31/10/2023. An elite group of local and international researchers, academics, and policy makers in the field of economics and energy participated in the conference.

The conference focused on several economic issues, most notably on diversification challenges and opportunities within the hydrocarbon sector in the light of the looming risks of stranded assets, but also the potential for integrating the hydrocarbon sector into the emerging decarbonization and energy transition regime. Moreover, the conference addressed other associated research and policy agenda, including the macroeconomic impacts of diversification and energy transition, as well as the implications of energy transition on the private sector and labor markets of the region.

The title of the scientific paper was “Fiscal Policies and Macroeconomic Stability in Oil Exporting Countries: Evidence for Saudi Arabia.” The study discussed the effectiveness of fiscal policies amid oil price fluctuations and provided a novel approach to measure the economic cost of fiscal instability in Saudi Arabia. The paper was critically reviewed by National and International recognized experts in the field of energy economics.