IMF RESEARCHER

Cedric Okou is an Economist in the Development Macroeconomics Division of the IMF Research Department. Prior to joining the Fund, Cedric led the surveillance and analytical work on Sub-Saharan Africa in the World Bank Prospects Group. Before that, he was a tenured Associate Professor of macro finance at the University of Quebec in Montreal and worked in the private equity energy sector. Cedric’s research interests include macro finance, economic growth, entrepreneurship, climate, and risk management. His work has been published in the Journal of Quantitative and Financial Analysis, Journal of Applied Econometrics, and Journal of Banking and Finance, among others. He holds a PhD from HEC Montreal.

Personal WebPage: https://sites.google.com/site/cedriciltisokou

Fluent In: French.

Education:

Ph.D. in Financial Economics, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2012

M.Sc. in Mathematical and Computational Finance, Universite de Montreal, Canada, 2007

B.Sc. in Statistics, ENEA Dakar, Senegal, 2005

Previous Experience:

Economist | Development Macroeconomics Division (DM), Research Department, IMF, 2021-present

Economist | Prospects Group, DEC and EFI Vice Presidencies, World Bank, 2018-2021

Manager | Portfolio and Macro Risk Management Consulting Team, KPMG, Canada, 2016-2018

Associate Professor (2016-2018), Director of Program in Management Certificates (2017-2018), and Assistant Professor (2012-2016) | Department of Finance, University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Canada

Lecturer | Department of Finance, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2009-2012

Analyst | Financial Markets Department, Bank of Canada, June-September 2010

Investment Analyst (Quant) | Business Development Group, Brookfield Partners, Canada, 2006-2007

Visiting Researcher | Bank of Canada (Aug. 2011, Sep. 2013, Nov. 2014, Feb. 2016), Federal Reserve Board (Feb. 2018)

Referee Activities:

Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Risk and Insurance, International Journal of Forecasting, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Financial Review, Econometrics.

Country work or Mission Assignment:

Uganda (TA, 2023)

Field of Expertise:

Open Economy Macroeconomics

Monetary Policy

Macro-Financial Issues

International Finance

Economic Modeling

Development Economics

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Climate Change and Chronic Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa , Departmental Paper No 2022/016 , September 15, 2022

Staple Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Empirical Assessment , Working Paper No. 2022/135 , July 08, 2022

IMF Country Reports

G-20 Background Note on The Macroeconomic Impact of Food and Energy Insecurity, March 2023

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Africa Food Prices Are Soaring Amid High Import Reliance, IMF Blog, September 2022, (with J. Spray and F. Unsal)

How Africa Can Escape Chronic Food Insecurity Amid Climate Change, IMF Blog, Chart of the Week, September 2022, (with L. Kemoe, P. Mitra, and F. Unsal)

Other Published Materials

April 2024 World Economic Outlook, Chapter 3, Slowdown in Global Medium-Term Growth: What Will It Take to Turn the Tide?

April 2022 Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 1: Fiscal Policy From Pandemic to War, Box 1.1: Social Protection and Poverty During the Pandemic.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

An Alternative Representation of the C-CAPM with Higher-Order Risks, Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Volume 49(2), 2024, Pages 194-233, (with G. Dionne and J. Li).

Does Informality Increase the Spread of COVID-19 in Africa?, Applied Economics Letters, Volume 29(12), 2022, Pages 1111-1115, (with P. Nguimkeu).

Casting a Shadow: Productivity of Formal Firms and Informality, Review of Development Economics, Volume 24(4), 2020, 1610-1630, (with M. Amin)

Good Volatility, Bad Volatility and Option Pricing, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Volume 54(2), 2019, 695-727, (with B. Feunou)

Distilling Liquidity Costs from Limit Order Books, Journal of Banking and Finance, 94, 2018, Pages 16-34, (with D. Amaya, J.-Y. Filbien, A. Roch)

Risk-Neutral Moment-Based Estimation of Affine Option Pricing Models, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Volume 33(7), 2018, Pages 1007-1025, (with B. Feunou)

Downside Variance Risk Premium, Journal of Financial Econometrics, Lead Article, Volume 16(3), 2018, Pages 341–383, (with B. Feunou and M. Jahan-Parvar)

Horizon Effect In The Term Structure Of Long-Run Risk-Return Trade-Offs, CSDA Annals of Computational and Financial Econometrics, Volume 100, 2016, Pages 445–466, (with E. Jacquier)

Disentangling Continuous Volatility From Jumps In Long-Run Risk-Return Relationships, Journal of Financial Econometrics, Volume 12(3), 2014, Pages 544–583, (with E. Jacquier).

Publications in Books and Conference Volumes

What Explains Productivity Growth, with A. Dieppe, A. Kawamoto, Y. Okawa, and J. Temple. 2020. In Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies, Chapter 2, A. Dieppe (eds.)

Patterns of Total Factor Productivity: A Firm Perspective. 2020. In Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies, in Chapter 7, A. Dieppe (eds.)

Informality, with P. Nguimkeu. 2019. In The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All, J. Choi, M. Dutz, and Z. Usman (eds.)

Other Published Materials

Leveraging Digital Technologies to Boost Productivity in the Informal Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, Review of Policy Research, Volume 38(6), 2021, 707-731, (with P. Nguimkeu)

Assessing the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in Niger, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Volume 33(1), 2021, 71-91, (with H. Ali and J.-P. Gueyie)

A Tale of Africa Today: Balancing the Lives and Livelihoods of Informal Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Africa Knowledge in Time Policy Brief, 1(3), 2020, Pages 1-6, (with P. Nguimkeu)

Cedric Okou is an Economist in the Development Macroeconomics Division of the IMF Research Department. Prior to joining the Fund, Cedric led the surveillance and analytical work on Sub-Saharan Africa in the World Bank Prospects Group. Before that, he was a tenured Associate Professor of macro finance at the University of Quebec in Montreal and worked in the private equity energy sector. Cedric’s research interests include macro finance, economic growth, entrepreneurship, climate, and risk management. His work has been published in the Journal of Quantitative and Financial Analysis, Journal of Applied Econometrics, and Journal of Banking and Finance, among others. He holds a PhD from HEC Montreal.

Personal WebPage: https://sites.google.com/site/cedriciltisokou

Fluent In: French.

Education:

Ph.D. in Financial Economics, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2012

M.Sc. in Mathematical and Computational Finance, Universite de Montreal, Canada, 2007

B.Sc. in Statistics, ENEA Dakar, Senegal, 2005

Previous Experience:

Economist | Development Macroeconomics Division (DM), Research Department, IMF, 2021-present

Economist | Prospects Group, DEC and EFI Vice Presidencies, World Bank, 2018-2021

Manager | Portfolio and Macro Risk Management Consulting Team, KPMG, Canada, 2016-2018

Associate Professor (2016-2018), Director of Program in Management Certificates (2017-2018), and Assistant Professor (2012-2016) | Department of Finance, University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Canada

Lecturer | Department of Finance, HEC Montreal, Canada, 2009-2012

Analyst | Financial Markets Department, Bank of Canada, June-September 2010

Investment Analyst (Quant) | Business Development Group, Brookfield Partners, Canada, 2006-2007

Visiting Researcher | Bank of Canada (Aug. 2011, Sep. 2013, Nov. 2014, Feb. 2016), Federal Reserve Board (Feb. 2018)

Referee Activities:

Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Risk and Insurance, International Journal of Forecasting, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Financial Review, Econometrics.

Country work or Mission Assignment:

Uganda (TA, 2023)

Field of Expertise:

Open Economy Macroeconomics

Monetary Policy

Macro-Financial Issues

International Finance

Economic Modeling

Development Economics

IMF Books and Working Papers:

Climate Change and Chronic Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa , Departmental Paper No 2022/016 , September 15, 2022

Staple Food Prices in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Empirical Assessment , Working Paper No. 2022/135 , July 08, 2022

IMF Country Reports

G-20 Background Note on The Macroeconomic Impact of Food and Energy Insecurity, March 2023

iMFdirect Blog Posts

Africa Food Prices Are Soaring Amid High Import Reliance, IMF Blog, September 2022, (with J. Spray and F. Unsal)

How Africa Can Escape Chronic Food Insecurity Amid Climate Change, IMF Blog, Chart of the Week, September 2022, (with L. Kemoe, P. Mitra, and F. Unsal)

Other Published Materials

April 2024 World Economic Outlook, Chapter 3, Slowdown in Global Medium-Term Growth: What Will It Take to Turn the Tide?

April 2022 Fiscal Monitor, Chapter 1: Fiscal Policy From Pandemic to War, Box 1.1: Social Protection and Poverty During the Pandemic.

Publications in Journals (Refereed)

An Alternative Representation of the C-CAPM with Higher-Order Risks, Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Volume 49(2), 2024, Pages 194-233, (with G. Dionne and J. Li).

Does Informality Increase the Spread of COVID-19 in Africa?, Applied Economics Letters, Volume 29(12), 2022, Pages 1111-1115, (with P. Nguimkeu).

Casting a Shadow: Productivity of Formal Firms and Informality, Review of Development Economics, Volume 24(4), 2020, 1610-1630, (with M. Amin)

Good Volatility, Bad Volatility and Option Pricing, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Volume 54(2), 2019, 695-727, (with B. Feunou)

Distilling Liquidity Costs from Limit Order Books, Journal of Banking and Finance, 94, 2018, Pages 16-34, (with D. Amaya, J.-Y. Filbien, A. Roch)

Risk-Neutral Moment-Based Estimation of Affine Option Pricing Models, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Volume 33(7), 2018, Pages 1007-1025, (with B. Feunou)

Downside Variance Risk Premium, Journal of Financial Econometrics, Lead Article, Volume 16(3), 2018, Pages 341–383, (with B. Feunou and M. Jahan-Parvar)

Horizon Effect In The Term Structure Of Long-Run Risk-Return Trade-Offs, CSDA Annals of Computational and Financial Econometrics, Volume 100, 2016, Pages 445–466, (with E. Jacquier)

Disentangling Continuous Volatility From Jumps In Long-Run Risk-Return Relationships, Journal of Financial Econometrics, Volume 12(3), 2014, Pages 544–583, (with E. Jacquier).

Publications in Books and Conference Volumes

What Explains Productivity Growth, with A. Dieppe, A. Kawamoto, Y. Okawa, and J. Temple. 2020. In Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies, Chapter 2, A. Dieppe (eds.)

Patterns of Total Factor Productivity: A Firm Perspective. 2020. In Global Productivity: Trends, Drivers, and Policies, in Chapter 7, A. Dieppe (eds.)

Informality, with P. Nguimkeu. 2019. In The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All, J. Choi, M. Dutz, and Z. Usman (eds.)

Other Published Materials

Leveraging Digital Technologies to Boost Productivity in the Informal Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, Review of Policy Research, Volume 38(6), 2021, 707-731, (with P. Nguimkeu)

Assessing the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies in Niger, Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Volume 33(1), 2021, 71-91, (with H. Ali and J.-P. Gueyie)

A Tale of Africa Today: Balancing the Lives and Livelihoods of Informal Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Africa Knowledge in Time Policy Brief, 1(3), 2020, Pages 1-6, (with P. Nguimkeu)