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The 21st Annual Conference of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) will be held in Tunisia, March 20-22, 2015. The organizing committee is pleased to invite submissions of proposals according to the outline given below. Invitees should be engaged in research on the ERF region (the Arab countries, Iran and Turkey), whether they are affiliates of ERF or not. Previously published papers or those accepted for publication may not be submitted. The deadline for submitting proposals is June 19, 2014.The authors of accepted papers (one author per paper) will be invited to present them and take part in the deliberations of the conference at ERF’s expense. If the paper is accepted for publication in a refereed journal within two years of the conference, the author(s) will receive an honorarium of $1,000. In addition, the refereeing committees will select six papers—one per each of the six parallel session themes—for the Best Paper Award. Winning papers are evaluated on the basis of their contribution to knowledge, rigor and policy relevance. The Awards will be announced at the Closing Plenary of the conference and each winning paper will receive an extra $1,000. Finally, the editors of the Middle East Development Journal, (MEDJ, ERF’s journal) will select worthy papers for possible inclusion, following the journal’s refereeing process.CONFERENCE OBJECTIVESAs always, the 21st Annual Conference provides a unique opportunity for regional researchers to interact with international ones and with each another. It also provides a venue for the presentation of multiple research papers, both in the plenary and parallel sessions, followed by stimulating discussions and feedback. In addition, the conference features special events, the presentation of selected research projects and celebrates excellence in research.MAIN THEME AND SUB-THEMESThe theme of the plenary sessions this year is Democracy and Economic Development. The themes of the parallel sessions are always varied enough to accommodate diverse research interests. Submissions for presentations in the parallel sessions may be made under the following areas:1. Macroeconomics2. Finance3. International Economics4. Labor and Human Development5. Microeconomic and Sectoral studies6. Institutional Economics/GovernanceTIMETABLE AND DEADLINES The deadline for submitting paper proposals is June 19, 2014 and selected applicants will be informed by August 21, 2014. Final papers are due by December 4, 2014. Below is a detailed timetable.IMPORTANT DATES June 19, 2014: Deadline for submissionsAugust 21, 2014: Notification of selected proposalsDecember 4, 2014: Deadline for receiving written papersJanuary 14, 2015: Notification of acceptance of papers for presentationMarch 19, 2015: Pre-conference activitiesMarch 20, 2015: Conference beginsMarch 22, 2015: Conference endsMay 3, 2015: Revision of papers for publication in the ERF working paper series completedGUIDELINES FOR PROPOSALS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS Paper proposals should not exceed two pages, or 700 words. They should consist of three sections, as detailed below.1. Motivation and Outline: This section should provide a clear statement of the problem at hand, the knowledge gap the paper will address in light of existing literature and how the proposed research will contribute to advancing our knowledge about the subject. It should also provide an outline of the final paper.2. Methodology and Analysis: This section should clearly identify the research question and the hypothesis to be tested, as well as the research methodology that will be employed. It should describe the data that will be used in the analysis, as well as its sources and time span for each variable. It should describe the analytical technique (case studies and/or econometrics) and explain the rationale for using the selected methodology.3. Policy Implications:Researchers are encouraged to describe preliminary results and policy implications if possible. If not, they should explain how the findings will contribute to the understanding of the topic under investigation.SELECTION PROCESS ERF reserves the right to exclude proposals which are not consistent with the above guidelines. In addition, no single author may submit more than two proposals, alone or jointly with others. The selection of proposals is based on their evaluation by referring committees with marginal adjustment to take into account regional and gender balances. Another round of referring will take place to evaluate the completed papers, and authors will be notified of their acceptance for presentation accordingly. All proposals and papers will go through a plagiarism-checking process to ensure their originality and authenticity.All proposals must specify the theme under which they are submitted. In addition, submissions should include:Author(s)’ last and first names, affiliation and position, address, telephone and fax numbers, as well as an email address.Author(s)’ CV(s) and the most recent published paper, if any.PLEASE FORWARD YOUR SUBMISSION TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL: erf@erf.org.eg CONTACTFor further inquiries, please contactHoda Azmi,Conference &#38; Logistics Manager, ERF21 Al-Sad Al-Aaly Street, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.Fax (+202) 333 18 604E-mail: hazmi@erf.org.eg